BenchmarkingofWastewater

TreatmentPlants
TheAustrianWay
HeidiSchaar
ViennaUniversityof Technology
Institutefor Water Quality
hschaar@iwag.tuwien.ac.at
StefanLindtner
k2W EnvironmentalTechnology,
DevelopmentandConsulting
office@k2W.at
Outline
Introduction
Methods
Results
Recap&conclusions
Futurework
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
INTROTheAustrianBenchmarkingway
1999Austrianbenchmarkingresearchproject
Objectives
developperformanceindicators
identifythebestpractice
determineoptimisation&costreductionpotentials
2004implementationofaninternetplatform
Todaymorethan130participants(2,000 1,000,000PE)
39%oftheAustriandesigncapacity(>10,000PE)
Cooperation
theAustrianWaterandWasteManagementAssociation(OEWAV)
twoprivatecompanies(technical&financial)
oneuniversityinstitute(InstituteforWaterQuality,TUVienna)
guaranteessoundscientific,technicalandeconomicwork
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
M&MSTheAustrianbenchmarkingsystem
Benchmarkplantsforyearlytotal,capital&operatingcosts
Compliancecriteria(operatingandyearlytotalcosts)
Austrianemissionstandards
minimumqualityoftechnicaldata
municipalwastewatercharacter(N/COD 0.7)
Processbenchmark
lowestspecificoperatingcostsforoneofthedefinedtreatment
processes(criteriacompliance!)
PIs forprocesses
PIs forcostcategories
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
Abenchmarkingyear canbesubdividedinto3steps
1. Dataacquisition
internetplatform
technical&financialdata
www.abwasserbenchmarking.at
2. Dataprocessing
plausibilitycheck
calculationofPIs&BMs
3. Exchangeofexperience
individualconsulting
(expert@WWTP)
workshops(WWTPsamongst
eachotherandwithexpert)
J
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Public reports
www.abwasserbenchmarking.at
Dicussion forum
BM area
Methods processmodel
Clearlydefinedprocesses
Modelcanbeadaptedaccordingtothesize(PE)
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
WWTP
Further
sludge treatment
Mechanical-
biological
wastewater
treatment
Sludge
thickening
&
stabilization
Process 1 Process 2 Process 4 Process 3
Obligatory
processes
Support
process I
Optional
processes
Mechanical
pretreatment
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II.1 II.2
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I.1 I.2 I.3
L
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y
Support
process II
WWTP
Further
sludge treatment
&
disposal
Mechanical-
biological
wastewater
treatment
Sludge
thickening
&
stabilization
Process 1 Process 2 Process 4 Process 3
Obligatory
processes
Support
process I
Optional
processes
Mechanical
pretreatment
W
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r
k
s
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o
p

M
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L
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Support
process II
Operatingcosts&theirorigincostcategories
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
effluent
WWTP
wastewater
Residue treatment
& disposal
sludge
Screenings & grit
chamber trappings
personnel
energy materials
external
costs
Coagulants, sludge conditioner, etc.
RESULTS Operatingcosts &WWTPsize nexus
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
Database: benchmarking period 2003 2011;mean for WWTPthat participated more than once
RESULTS
Operatingcosts attributed to cost categories
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
VariableCosts~50%
dependingonutilisationefficiency
Fixedcosts~50%
independentofutilisationefficiency
RESULTS
Shareof cost categories depending onWWTPsize
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
37%
13%
6%
12%
19%
13%
14 WWTPs 10,000 - 20,000 PE
35%
14%
7%
13%
15%
16%
47 WWTPs 20,000 - 50,000 PE
37%
18%
7%
18%
10%
10%
8 WWTPs 50,000 - 100,000 PE
24%
12%
4% 9%
10%
41%
15 WWTPs 100,000 PE
RESULTS Operatingcostsattributedtoprocesses
P...Process
HP...SupportProcess
WWTPs>100,000PE
Database:2011
TheAustrianWayRecap &Conclusion
TheAustrianbenchmarkingprovidesanexcellentdataset
representing~40%ofAustrianWWTPcapacity
subjectedtorigorousqualitycontrol
complywithEUcriteriaforsensitiveareas
Thelowestspecificoperatingcostscoincidewithexcellent
treatmentefficiency,lowestenergyconsumptionandthe
bestoperators
Continuousexchangeofknowledge&experiencebetween
expertsandoperatorsandamongstWWTPsinherentfor
maximisingcostefficiency
educationandcontinuoustrainingofallpersonsinvolved
universitiesandprofessionalassociationsasdrivingforcesfor
continuousdevelopmentofimprovedtechnologyandmanagement
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
Recap&Conclusions
Specificcostsstronglydependonsize& capacityutilisation
~ 60 %fixedvs.~ 40%variableoperatingcosts(< 100,000PE)
Operatingcostsdecreasewithincreasingplantsize
highimpactoflowerspecificpersonnelcostsoflargeWWTPs
Material,externalandothercosts lowsizedependency
Currenttechnologyallowsenergyselfsufficientoperation
forWWTPs> 50,000PE
BUTenergyisnotadominantcostcategory
EspeciallyforsmallWWTPslowimpactofenergy
minimisationonoperatingcosts
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
FUTUREWORK
Benchmarkingof Wastewater TreatmentPlants TheAustrianWay
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
Onthe way
Benchmarkingcurves
generatedfromthecomprehensivedatapool
ofthelast10yrs.
fortotaloperatingcosts&costcategories
costreductionpotentialasanoutput
Advantageof
beingindependentofthePIscalculatedforthe
participantsoftheongoing benchmarkingyear
largerdatasetforcomparison
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
Benchmarkingcurve
total specificoperatingcosts
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway

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Cost reduction
potential
Participant Benchmark
Quickcheckforoperatingcosts
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
Takehomemessages
Benchmarkingisanexcellentmanagementtool
StrengthoftheAustrian Way onesingle
benchmarkingprojectorganisedbytheOEWAV
Thehumanfactor (education,training&networking) &
thecapacityutilisation (ratiobetweendesignandactual
pollutionload) decisivefactorsforminimumspecific
operatingcosts
Benchmarkingofwastewatertreatmentplants theAustrianway
BenchmarkingofWastewater
TreatmentPlants
TheAustrianWay
HeidiSchaar
ViennaUniversityof Technology
Institutefor Water Quality
hschaar@iwag.tuwien.ac.at
StefanLindtner
Engineeringconsultant k2W
office@k2W.at