Transcript Document

SUSTAINABLE
WATER SUPPLY
FOR AUCKLAND
Craig Brown
Ergonomics
Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety and Health,
Department of Management, Massey University
Greywater systems
ECOplus
On-site wastewater design/consulting
Craig Brown Consulting
Myth #1

Sustainability is about the environment

Sustainability is anthropocentric
Sustainability is anthropocentric

Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development (UNCED, 1992):
 Principle
1: Human beings are at the centre of
concerns for sustainable development. They are
entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony
with nature

Even from a ‘strong sustainability’ viewpoint:
 People’s
behaviour is the cause of unsustainability
…which leads us to…
Moray, 2000
…Myth #2

Sustainable water is about
new technologies
 Not
without attending to social/behavioural
systems
 Without accounting for users, the overall
design will be ‘sub-optimal’ (and may not work
at all)
 Sociotechnical system design
Human behaviour is key to demand
management
- The ‘socio’ part of the sociotechnical system
- The bit that gets forgotten in design

Without ‘users’ there would be no ‘use’, no
‘demand’
 Mental
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
models
How do water systems appear to the user?
How can we give them comprehensible and usable (and
salient and timely…) feedback?
 Emotional
design
Feedback!

Centralised systems give feedback…
 Generally
 overall water consumption/wastewater production
 Or locally
 water meters
 But not in a salient or timely manner (the water
bill
being some time after the actual water use)

Hard to match specific activities to specific outcomes
 There
is no ‘hard limit’ on water use/wastewater
production
 Charging for water and wastewater use at actual cost
is effective

Increases relevance of the information
Feedback!

On-site systems give feedback…
 Locally
 In
a timely manner
 Such that specific activities can be matched to
specific outcomes
 System performance


personally important to the user
feedback is attended to and acted upon
 There
is a ‘hard limit’ in terms of water availability and
wastewater treatment capacity
 You can’t beat on-site systems for feedback, but…
…you can improve feedback in
centralised systems

We need a ‘litre-meter’, like a centameter

“Preliminary investigation indicates that customers with displays are more
likely to use less water. Displays tailored to the specific needs of the user,
such as those comparing current water use with neighborhood averages or
with consumption in previous months, may help consumers further focus on
conservation.” (“Smart metering for water utilities” - Oracle White Paper,
September 2009)
Improving feedback in centralised
systems

In sociotechnical systems terms:
 Provide
feedback close to the source of
variance
Not a bill at the end of the month to the parent
 Put a display in the shower so the teenage user
can see the use (and cost) as it happens

How to manage this demand?
Emotional
Design:
•Visceral
•Behavioural
•Reflective
Emotional Design
Visceral: wired in, response to physical
attributes
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Behavioural: use, performance

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Genetic preferences
Largely shared by all people
Eg. children’s furniture, arts & crafts, spiders
Function, understandability (conceptual models, feedback),
usability, physical feel
Classic HF/E
Eg. the design of cook-top controls
Reflective: message, culture, meaning

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Self-image
Learned preferences (eating bitter foods)
Fashion
Eg. riding a roller-coaster, holding a snake
Emotional Design
Viscerally
and behaviourally
the Kohler water tower
shower wins!

Reflectively, experience, culture and
education can lead to water conserving
choices…
Myth #3

We don’t need to save water
“The country’s total annual precipitation is
between 300,000 and 600,000 million
cubic metres, and it has been estimated
that New Zealand’s consumption of water
only approaches 2,000 million cubic
metres per year”
(MoH)
Don’t need to save water?
In my inbox on the day I put this together,
was the LGOL ‘what’s new’
 I followed all the relevant links
and found…
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Coromandel
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Friday, 15 January 2010
increases in
in water
water consumption
consumption have put pressure on
Large increases
some of the Coromandel Peninsula's hot spots and holidaymakers
are still being asked to think twice before turning on the tap.
The amount of water used in Matarangi, Whangamata, Pauanui,
Hahei and Tairua has risen by about a third between December
22nd and January 10th compared to a year earlier.
Hahei's water consumption was up by 49 per cent on average
over last year, Matarangi up by 33%, Pauanui and Whangamata
both up by 25% and Tairua up by 21% (over the period).
Total hose and sprinkler ban water restrictions were imposed in
the five beach towns to maintain supply and comply with resource
consent conditions over the last two weeks.
Northland
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14 January 2010
Water restrictions loom if drought continues
The drought rapidly tightening its grip on an increasingly parched
Northland may soon force the Northland Regional Council to limit
the water taken from the region’s rivers and streams, its hydrologists
warn.
Dale Hansen, the Council’s Water Resources/Hydrology Programme
Manager, says the Far North, much of the east coast and central
parts of Northland are bearing the brunt of three months of
ongoing dry
conditions.
ongoing
dry conditions
With just 31mm – or 10 percent of its usual rain – falling there
since November, rivers in the Kerikeri area are already at critically
low flows and Mr Hansen warns many east coast and Far North
areas will be in a similar position within the next fortnight.
Drought!

The Government is keeping close watch on the "big dry" in many
regions and will consider drought assistance if conditions worsen,
Agriculture Minister David Carter says. Northern and eastern parts of the
country are parched due to windy dry weather. Irrigation bans are in place in
some regions. "Northland is rapidly approaching drought
drought status
status and
the eastern coasts of both islands are very dry, particularly parts of
central Otago, coastal Canterbury, parts of Gisborne and inland Bay of
Plenty," Mr Carter said. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry staff were
monitoring the situation and liaising with 14 local rural support trusts which
provide farm management advice and other help in communities battling
adverse conditions. "Expected rain in parts of the country this week will
provide relief, but it may not be enough to remove the risk of drought in
some regions," Mr Carter said. "Many farmers are still recovering from
last year’s
year's drought
drought and have been working hard to build feed reserves,
last
restock their farms and improve stock conditions," he said. Drought could
have a devastating effect on farmers, rural communities and the economy,
with the impact felt by all New Zealanders. Federated Farmers has said the
looming drought could drain several billion dollars from the economy, in
terms of earnings farmers would have to forego. The last significant
drought, two
two years
years ago
ago, cost the country almost $3 billion in lost earnings.
drought,
(NZ Herald, 11 Jan 2010)
Myth #4

Demand management is about saving
water
There is always more water…
…is there always more energy?

Auckland councils generate 25-40% of their carbon
emissions providing water and wastewater services


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RDC 35%
Waitakere 39%
Others??
This is set to increase
Rodney District Council
(CCP-NZ Milestone 1
data)
…is there always more energy?

Water provision requires energy

Embodied in infrastructure
 Resulting from operations
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Mains: 61% life cycle energy and 28% life cycle carbon emissions
(Mithraratne & Vale).
Different water sources require different amounts of energy
In California, water efficiency programmes save twice as much energy
for the same cost as energy efficiency programmes (California Energy
Commission, 2005)
In a world without fossil fuels, all energy will have to come from
renewable sources (e.g. wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, marine,
biomass), and that means there will be a limit to energy (and water)
supply.
Ghosh & Gabe, Landcare Research for ARC: Identification of
Practical Applications for Localised Sustainable Energy and Water
Systems within Intensified Centres of the Auckland Region
…and if there were sufficient fossil
fuels?


Fossil fuel consumption leads to greenhouse
gas emissions, leads to climate change
A future problem?
 Climate
change already kills people
 150,000 deaths globally per annum and five million
DALYs
Patz, J.A., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Holloway, T. & Foley, J.A. (2005)
‘Impact of Regional Climate Change on Human Health’ Nature. 438,
7066, 310-317.
…is there always more money?

Taupo district council: “Despite having a
huge lake right at out feet, the problem
with such increases in water consumption
is the load it puts on the infrastructure
required to treat and turn lake water into
the treated water and deliver it to your tap.
It's not an endless supply as some would
think”
…is there always more money?

Of…importance to New Zealanders should be how we are going to
fund our water infrastructure. Because we've got a problem.
Analysis of long-term council community plans for the period 20092018 indicates significant increases in capital and operating
expenditure in the provision of water services throughout New
Zealand.
Department of Internal Affairs-commissioned analysis forecasts total
expenditure will be $28.46 billion over this period, made up of
$11.46 billion of capital spending and $17 billion of operational
spending.
The capital spending estimate now stands 30 per cent higher than
estimates from the same plans for the 2006 15-year period,
indicating an increasing infrastructure deficit. Unless this deficit is
addressed, water infrastructure will deteriorate.
(Murray Gibb, CEO Water NZ, in NZ Herald, 19 Jan 2010)
…is there always more money?
 What
could the $1bn per annum* that could be saved
nationally (on water infrastructure and operations) be
used for instead?
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Tax cuts
Health care
Education
Environmental stewardship
?
* this would be a saving of less than a third of the
projected expenditure
Myth #5

One litre of water is the same as another
All water is not equal!
When is a leak not a leak?
 Indoor vs outdoor
 Hot vs cold
 Peak vs off-peak

Should we be trying to communicate this to
‘Joe Public’?
If so, then we need to start by conveying the
‘water use is energy use’, or Water Miles
concept
www.watermiles.org
Myth #6 – getting a water efficient
showerhead is a good idea
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Assumption: people understand that they should
conserve water and that replacing their showerhead(s)
is a good way to do that
And they are motivated to do so
And they are able to act on their intention
Summary: they make and act upon a choice based on
their reflective system, relating to their self-image,
fashion, culture, learned preferences and maybe a
desire to save money
So: They install a low-flow shower head, which mixes in
air to maintain the same feel as a ‘standard’ shower
head
Thus saving water
Great, right?
Maybe, but…
Mixing in air causes the water droplets to
cool by the time they reach the user
 So the person adjusts the shower to use a
higher temperature (and maybe the hot
water cylinder temperature)
 So they’ve traded water use for energy
use

Myth #7

Demand management is the best,
cheapest way to save water
Myth #7 rephrased
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Myth #7a: Demand management is the only feasible way
to save water
Myth #7b: Demand management is sufficient to defer
new infrastructure investment
Myth #7c: Rainwater use and greywater reuse is
demand management
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
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It’s new infrastructure, providing new water sources
Comparison: a new washing machine, which uses less water but
doesn’t supply more water
But: it can have behavioural effects that can reduce demand also
Growing population means that additional water sources
and infrastructure are required as well…
Solutions

Demand management
 Definitely
cheapest (energy and expense)
 Essential but not sufficient in context of growing
population and ‘triple crunch’
(peak oil, climate change, recession)
 No
new water supply
 Decreases wastewater production (base load, not
peak)
 Wastewater concentration increases – implications?
Solutions

Rainwater use
 Is
a new water supply
 Increases wastewater volume (base load)
 BUT, properly configured, reduces peak loading
because it attenuates stormwater
 Hence no need to upgrade stormwater/wastewater
networks
 No need to introduce


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Desalination
Dams (Riverhead)
Rivers (various, longish pipes)
Solutions

Water reuse/recycling
 Is
a ‘new’ supply
 Decreases wastewater volume (base volume)
 Doesn’t reduce peak loading (due to stormwater), but
doesn’t increase it either
 Wastewater concentration increases
 Hence no need to upgrade stormwater/wastewater
networks
 No need to upgrade centralised water supply
infrastructure if on-site; otherwise third pipe required
Myth #8
New reticulated supplies are
cheaper than new on-site supplies
Water recycling cost-benefit
analysis
Brown, C. (2009) Recycled Water:
Risks, benefits, economics and
regulation by system scale.
NZLTC conference proceedings.
Rain tank cost
Indoor + outdoor: $0.62 - $2.34 m3
 Outdoor only: $0.58 - $2.19 m3
 Cost effective in Sydney, Gold Coast and
Brisbane

 Because
they have more rain!
 (Auckland has more still)
Tam, V., Tam, L. & Zeng, S. (2010) Cost effectiveness and tradeoff on
the use of rainwater tank: An empirical study in Australian residential
decision-making. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 54, 178-186.
Rain tank cost

Vale & Mithraratne (2007) NZSSES Talking and Walking
Sustainability Conference paper

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Rainwater is 36% cheaper than the existing reticulated supply, if
used exclusively (no mains connection)
Life cycle energy was lower too
Vale & Mithraratne (2007)
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Rainwater cheaper is used exclusively, then mains, then
combination of mains plus rainwater
I.e. ‘doubling up’ increases cost…
…but by how much compared with other new supply options?
Myth #8
New reticulated supplies are
cheaper than new on-site supplies
Rain Tanks in this range
Greywater recycling down here somewhere
Why the discrepancy?

Annualised vs levelised cost?
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Most large-scale infrastructure capacity is surplus for many years
(but money has been spent up front)
New on-site capacity can be steadily added
(Lack of) accounting for benefits to
stormwater/wastewater systems?

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Rain tanks can reduce peak flow in stormwater/wastewater
system
Greywater reuse reduces base wastewater flow
Neither requires an upgrade to wastewater collection/treatment
infrastructure
Neither requires an upgrade to potable water delivery pipes
Why the discrepancy?

Differing assumptions on treatment
standards/equipment required?

Or just dodgy assumptions?
 E.g.
one recent study costing greywater systems
assumed:

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On-line chlorination and redox probe required
$50/month for chlorine
No increase in water prices over lifetime of product
No savings in wastewater production
Myth #9
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If we always do what we always did…
we’ll get the best results
Yarra Valley Water
Melbourne area
 1.6 million customers
 395 employees
 $381.5 million revenue
 $1.3 billion assets

Yarra Valley Water

Underwent deliberate managed
cultural transformation from
‘defensive, old style public
service instrument’ into a
‘dynamic, energized
organisation’ with new systems,
behaviours and approaches…

So what?
Culture
“One could argue that…centralised service delivery is
a central paradigm embedded in water industry
culture. From this perspective, some water practitioners
consider alternative decentralised options as a problem.
They argue that the environment will be worse off if we
use more materials, that costs will increase, and that
there will be greater risk to the community.”
Francis Pamminger, Yarra Valley Water
Advancing the Infrastructure Selection Process – Case Study
(All quotes, data and graphs reproduced from this case study)
Case study
“Along with targets for customer service,
business culture, and efficiency, Yarra
Valley Water aims to ‘provide services
within the carrying capacity of nature and
inspire others to do the same’.”
Case study
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“There is insufficient water to meet growth”
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“Port Phillip Bay [outfall for Melbourne’s
sewage treatment] has reached its
carrying capacity”
Case study
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Work undertaken to help select more sustainable infrastructure
options
Aimed to address perceived barriers to adopting systems different
from conventional servicing options
Debate existed as to whether alternative servicing options could
deliver improvements
Perception was that such options
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would cost more
would require additional material and energy
resulting in increased environmental burden,
and increasing the business risks.
Unaddressed, this uncertainty stopped any future exploration of
alternative servicing options
Case Study
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Yarra Valley Water engaged RMIT and CSIRO to find the most
environmentally sustainable solutions for their infrastructure works
The analysis included Greenfield development on the city periphery,
infill development, and backlog areas
Options:

Conventional
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Third pipe from STP
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third pipe recycling using treated water from local sewage treatment plant.
Third pipe from stormwater

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traditional centralised servicing with reticulated water and sewage pipes
connected to an existing central network. NB: Water efficient (3A)
appliances.
third pipe recycling using treated stormwater.
Onsite water supply and greywater

water supply solely from rainwater tanks and greywater treatment at each
property.
Results
Life cycle assessment
(water efficient appliances)
Results
Community cost
Results
Total cost assessment (costing for risk included)
Risk-cost for centralised systems was highest
why? Failure impacts more people, compared to decentralised systems
Myth #10
Not a lot of people use rainwater or
greywater
 And they’re unsafe

“ Alternative” water
supplies ?
QUIZ:
How many
homes…?
Have a
rainwater tank
19%
?
66% of households without
have considered it
10% using rainwater only
(i.e. rural use) – Stan Abbott
Reuse
greywater
55%
?
77% in Victoria
36.7% Waiheke*
22% extrapolated (see below)
Reuse just laundry 25%
greywater
Why more greywater
than rainwater use?
Australian Bureau of
Statistics 4602.0, March
2007
10% ‘habitually’**
18% of over 65s
*ARC survey, 2008
**MfE household sustainability
benchmark survey, Feb 2008
Greywater use – disease
association?
Greywater use – disease
association?
Lowest
rates
Highest
rates
Rainwater unsafe?
First flush diverter
+ Calmed inlet
+ Outtake not at bottom of tank
+ Concrete tank??
(?lowest life cycle impact too??)
= High quality potable water?


Disease rates?
Yarra Valley Water & Brown (2009): small number of
people at risk in the event of failure and reduces disease
spread potential (wider population not affected)
Bright ideas
Reduce, reuse, recycle (plus rainwater)
 Watercare to switch to on-site
infrastructure provision
 Demand management is multidimensional
 Water Miles concept

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
plus Rainwater

Reduce water use: demand management

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Reuse water with minimal treatment, locally
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Greywater recycling
On-site wastewater irrigation
Rainwater: a new source without knock-on infrastructure
upgrades

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Cheapest, but not sufficient in context of increasing population
IUWM
Recycle: collect and highly process water before using it
again

Effectively it is another product
Watercare to provide on-site
infrastructure
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Watercare (or contractor) install the rainwater
tank/greywater system and necessary fittings (e.g. first
flush diverters, backflow preventers), plumbing
And maintain the systems as necessary
Bill for it in the water bill, including interest cost
The saving in water used will pay for the cost of the
tanks plus interest
Watercare effectively install more on-site infrastructure
and fewer larger projects
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Savings in costs
Savings in energy
Reduced carbon emissions
More jobs
Why not?
Demand management is
multidimensional
Behaviour change
Costs least
Most effective?
Hardest to achieve?
New appliances,
devices, technologies
to reduce water use
New infrastructure
(greywater, rainwater)
Generally good value
Easier to gain uptake?
Cost/impact less than
represented??
Public acceptance easier than
industry?
Not really demand management?
www.watermiles.org

Conveys message:
 Water

Encourages on-site systems:
 Lower

services provision = Energy use
water miles
Includes hot water / cold water distinction
 Water
heating being a bigger energy user
than water supply
 It’s about energy, not (just) distance
Thank you
[email protected]
www.watermiles.org