Determination of Baselines for Evaluation and Promotion of Energy Efficiency in Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants are one of the largest energy consumers managed by the public sector. As plants expand in the future to accommodate population growth, energy requirements will substantially increase. Thus, implementation of energy efficient technologies is crucial in reducing national energy consumption. A detailed understanding of the current industry standards (baselines) is needed to estimate the energy savings potential for advanced state-of-the-art technologies and to provide incentives for application of the new technologies in retrofit and new construction projects. This paper summarizes the process BASE Energy, Inc. (BASE) went through to establish baselines to compare the energy performance of potential energy efficient technologies in the wastewater treatment industry that can be applied to energy efficiency programs available for wastewater treatment plants.