Browsing by Author "Rebolledo, Natalia"

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    Cost-Benefit Evaluation of Decentralized Greywater Reuse Systems in Rural Public Schools in Chile
    (2020) Rodriguez, Carolina; Sanchez, Rafael; Rebolledo, Natalia; Schneider, Nicolas; Serrano, Jennyfer; Leiva, Eduardo
    Water scarcity is one of the most important climatic threats in recent times. In Chile, the north and north-central areas, with predominantly arid or semi-arid climates, have been strongly affected by the low availability of water, as well as by overexploitation of water resources derived from the negative effect caused by some sectors of the economy such as agriculture and mining. Only 53% of households in rural areas in Chile have access to drinking water from a public network. To date, some pilot greywater treatment systems have been implemented in rural public schools. This paper presents an economic analysis of pilot systems for greywater treatment from three case studies. The results showed that the implementation of these systems would not be economically feasible, since the initial investment costs can exceed USD 5200, which is not offset by the water savings. However, other benefits, such as thermal regulation, better life quality, and the feeling of well-being and satisfaction of students and teachers should be considered to be paramount for the evaluation of treatment systems. In addition, current levels of treated greywater could allow irrigation of 6.24, 5.68, and 3.56 m(2)/person in the Alejandro Chelen, El Guindo, and Pedro de Valdivia schools, respectively. These results contribute to a better understanding of the social role that should be applied to the evaluation of ecological systems that save water and improve the well-being of the population.
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    Life cycle assessment of greywater treatment systems for water-reuse management in rural areas
    (2021) Rodriguez, Carolina; Sanchez, Rafael; Rebolledo, Natalia; Schneider, Nicolas; Serrano, Jennyfer; Leiva, Eduardo
    Water scarcity is a major concern worldwide. Population growth, as well as the intensive use of water resources for industrial and agricultural activities, among others, have caused water stress in various regions of the world. Rural areas are usually more affected due to water scarcity and a lack of sanitary infrastructure. The current practices associated with urban water management have been considered inefficient to respond to these problems. In recent years, the reuse of greywater has emerged as a promising and sustainable alternative. Several pilot greywater treatment systems have been implemented in rural areas of different countries, however, studies about the environmental impacts of these decentralized systems under different scenarios are lacking. In this work, the life cycle assessment of greywater treatment systems considering several scenarios was studied. Our results showed that the decrease in environmental impacts due to the saving of drinking water is more evident when the water supply is carried out through cistern trucks. This occurs because the environmental impact of land transport of water is extremely high and represents over 89% of the global warming indicator [kg CO2 eq] and 96% ozone depletion [kg CFC-11 eq] contributions of the system. Greywater treatment systems with backwashing and solar panels as a source of energy have lower environmental impacts, reducing CO2 and CFC emissions by 50% for the maintenance phase and by 85% (CO2) and 47% (CFC) for the operation phase. Furthermore, the acquisition of solar panels was economically feasible, with a payback of 19.7 years. This analysis showed the environmental feasibility of small-scale greywater treatment
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    Performance and treatment assessment of a pilot-scale decentralized greywater reuse system in rural schools of north-central Chile
    (2022) Rodriguez, Carolina; Carrasco, Fernanda; Sanchez, Rafael; Rebolledo, Natalia; Schneider, Nicolas; Serrano, Jennyfer; Leiva, Eduardo
    The problem of water scarcity in the world has gained great relevance in recent decades. One of the fields of study that has been developed as an ecological alternative to combat the water demand is the reuse of greywater. Greywater corresponds to domestic wastewater that excludes water from the toilet. These waters have the potential to be reused after simple treatments for non-potable uses. In the last decade, Chile has gone through the most intense mega-drought in its history. One of the most affected regions is the Coquimbo Region, located in the north-central zone, with a semi-arid climate and extensive agricultural activity. This paper presents the first results of pilot greywater treatment systems installed in rural public schools in the Coquimbo Region. In the first instance, different sorbent materials such as sand, zeolite, acid-activated carbon (AAC), base-activated carbon (BAC) and heat-activated carbon (HAC) were studied for the removal of organic matter and turbidity. It was found that the adsorbent materials based on carbon were more efficient for the removal of organic matter, registering maximum mean sorption capacities of 107.7 mg/g, 77.5 mg/g and 78.5 mg/g, for AAC, BAC and HAC, respectively. On the one hand, the treatment columns composed HAC, zeolite and sand, were very effective for removing turbidity, reaching removal percentages over 90%. On the other hand, pilot treatment systems were efficient in reaching the water quality levels required by Chilean legislation for the use of irrigation of recreational areas and services, and in some cases for the use of ornamental irrigation. The advantage of these systems is their simplicity and low installation cost. These systems have allowed savings of between 840 and 26,000 L per month, depending on the size of the school, which has allowed the watering of gardens.