Environmental and Cost Life Cycle Assessment of Disinfection Alternatives

The water technology innovation cluster in the greater Cincinnati area was formed in January 2011 by a regional coalition of private and public sector leaders with assistance from the EPA and U.S. Small Business Administration to develop and commercialize innovative water technologies that solve environmental challenges and spur sustainable economic development in the region. We use life cycle assessment to understand the relative benefits and to identify opportunities for refinement of three options for municipal water disinfection using UV light: conventional UV, LED UV, and plasma bead UV. UV treatment offers advantages to chlorine or other disinfection methods, however it also has some tradeoffs including energy use, production impacts, and the continued need for distribution residuals. Results for costs and environmental impacts are presented. The framework developed here will be used as the basis for studies of other technologies also under development within the greater Cincinnati water technology innovation cluster.