Energy Benchmarking and Optimization of Wastewater Treatment Plants in Greece
Popi Christoforidou, Georgios Bariamis, Maria Iosifidou, Eri Nikolaidou, Petros Samaras
Abstract
Wastewater treatment, as a crucial component of the urban water environment, consists of several energy-consumptive stages, therefore efficiency and energy savings measures are essential to maintain them as environmentally sustainable and economically viable. Operational and technical data from WWTPs in Greece have been collected as well as a sample from 61 facilities with key energy profile components. Energy consumption was assessed by specific key performance indicators (KPIs); specific energy consumption expressed per population equivalent (from 3 to 150 kWh/PE), per cubic meter treated (from 0.2 to 2.0 kWh/m3) and per unit of organic load removed (from 0.03 to 7.13 kWh/CODremoved).