Environmental optimization of residential water supply : a case study in Hanoi, Vietnam | |
| Author | Katihanna Ilomäki |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-01-9 |
| Subject(s) | Water-supply engineering--Vietnam--Hanoi Water-supply engineering--Environmental aspects |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | As in many Asian countries also in Vietnam the water pressure in the public water supply network is not sufficient for households' different purposes. Other common problems are interrupted water supply and the quality of water. In Hanoi majority of houses are equipped with the storage tanks and water pump to ensure the continuous water supply and sufficient pressure. The usual practice is to let water flow to the first storage tank locating in the ground level with the pressure in network and to pump water from the ground level tank to the storage tank at the top of the house. The quality of water does not meet the drinking water standards all the time and households boil the water before drinking. For this private water supply system a number of different items such as pumps, pipes, and tanks are needed as well as energy for pumping. The production, transportation, use, and disposal of these articles use resources and cause emissions which can contribute to different environmental impacts such as enhancing of greenhouse effect and eutrophication. The purpose of this study was to analyse how the present water supply system in houses in Hanoi could be improved so that fewer natural resources are used and less environmental impacts are generated. The methodology for the analysis was life cycle assessment and the computer software SimaPro 4 was used for data processing. In the assessment four environmental impact categories and resource consumption were analysed. Analysed environmental impact categories were greenhouse effect, acidification, eutrophication, and photochemical smog formation. The analyses were done for 30 years water supply. Remarkable savings in the resource consumption and reductions in the emissions can be achieved if the household changes its drinking water supply system from the system of boiling water to the use of bottled water. The consumption of coal will be reduced by 80% per house per year, consumption of oil by nearly 90%, and the total use of energy by 55%. Due to the remarkable changes in coal and oil consumption the C02 emissions will be also reduced by nearly 80%. The analysis on the reference system, which reflects the present practices and system in Hanoi showed that the biggest impact potential to all four selected environmental impact categories comes from the boiling of water for drinking. The contribution from boiling is more than four times bigger than the one coming from next biggest polluting part of system, equipment. The private pumping of water is third largest source of impact potential. The alternatives for the materials of pipes in house and storage tanks; boiling energy sources; and the processes for drinking water supply were analysed to assess the environmental improvement possibilities. It was found that the PVC pipe, and the stainless steel tank are most favourable materials in terms of contribution to environmental impacts. The electricity tum out to have the lowest contribution among the different sources for boiling energy with more than 95% lower contribution than coal. The drinking water supply by boiling the tap water was compared with the use of bottled water, and the direct supply of drinking quality water. The assessment clearly indicates that the boiling of water has bigger impact potential than two other options from which the direct supply was clearly better. The impact potentials to greenhouse effect, acidification, and eutrophication are 80% bigger for reference system than for bottled water system and direct drinking water supply systems' potentials to greenhouse effect and eutrophication are about 50% less than for bottled water system. |
| Year | 2001 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Nielsen, Per H. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Bohez, Erik L.J.;Nguyen Cong Thanh ; Trankler, Josef |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | European Commission |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2001 |