Circular Water and Wastewater Management in State College, Pennsylvania
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/AdAmericam.25.2024.25.08Keywords:
circular economy, CE, water, wastewater, State CollegeAbstract
In recent years, great attention has been paid to activities aimed at implementing a circular economy (CE) in the management of water resources around the world. One of the possibilities for the practical implementation of CE, based on the sustainable management of primary and secondary resources (waste), is the circular management of water and wastewater generated in urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This work presents examples of good practices in the implementation of CE in the college town of State College, Pennsylvania (United States of America). There are two WWTPs here – one belonging to Penn State University (Water Reclamation Facility) and another operated by the municipality (University Area Joint Authority). Both facilities implement CE goals through various initiatives dedicated to water, raw materials and energy recovery. The scope of these activities include using reclaimed water for irrigation of green areas, production of renewable energy, as well as recovery of biogenic components by processing sewage sludge in compost. This approach, where the university and municipality propose solutions in the environmental and social areas, is consistent with the idea of building social responsibility of units, which is a path to sustainability. Further actions to implement the CE model are expected to counteract ongoing climate change in various regions.
PlumX Metrics of this article
References
Ali, Syed Mithun, et al. “Development Goals towards Sustainability.” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 12, 2023, p. 9443, https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129443. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129443
Awad, Ahmed, et al. “Farmers’ Awareness in the Context of Climate Change: An Underutilized Way for Ensuring Sustainable Farmland Adaptation and Surface Water Quality.”
Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 21, 2021, p. 11802, https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111802. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111802
Borrelli, Pasquale, et al. “Land Use and Climate Change Impacts on Global Soil Erosion by Water (2015‑2070).”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 117, no. 36, 2020, pp. 21994‑22001, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001403117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001403117
D’Adamo, Idiano, et al. “Assessing the Relation between Waste Management Policies and Circular Economy Goals.” Waste Management, vol. 154, 2022, pp. 27‑35, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.09.031. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.09.031
European Environment Agency. “Climate Change and Water – Warmer Oceans, Flooding and Droughts.” Signals, vol. 1, 2018, pp. 38‑47.
Ferguson, Bruce K. “Environmental Planning for Wastewater Land Application: Lessons from Penn State’s ‘Living Filter.’” Landscape Planning, vol. 10, no. 3, 1983, pp. 205‑218, https://doi.org/10.1016/0304‑3924(83)90048‑5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3924(83)90048-5
Garcia, Susana, et al. “Full Domestic Supply Chains of Blue Virtual Water Flows Estimated for Major U.S. Cities.” Water Resources Research, vol. 56, no. 4, 2020, pp. 1‑20, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026190
Gromiec, Marek. Ochrona zasobów wodnych przed zanieczyszczeniem. Wybrane problemy i rozwiązania. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 2021.
Korenaga, Jun, et al. “Global Water Cycle and the Coevolution of the Earth’s Interior and Surface Environment.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: A Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 375, 2017, pp. 1‑30, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2015.0393. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2015.0393
Kuśmierz, Agnieszka, et al. “Charakterystyka sektora gospodarki wodno‑ściekowej i jego potrzeb w zakresie kompetencji.” Rada GWS, 25 April 2020, https://rada‑gws.ios.edu.
pl/publikacje/charakterystyka‑sektora‑gospodarki‑wodno‑sciekowej‑i‑jego‑potrzeb‑w‑zakresie‑kompetencji/ (10.09.2024).
Li, We, and Wenting Lin. “Circular Economy Policies in China.” Towards a Circular Economy: Corporate Management and Policy Pathways, edited by Venkatachalam Anbumozhi and Jootae Kim, Jakarta: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, 2016, pp. 95‑111.
Nikolaou, Ioannis E., and Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis. “An Introduction to Circular Economy and Sustainability: Some Existing Lessons and Future Directions.” Sustainable Production and Consumption, vol. 28, 2021, pp. 600‑609, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.06.017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.06.017
Orlowsky, Boris, et al. “Today’s Virtual Water Consumption and Trade under Future Water Scarcity.” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 9, no. 7, 2014, pp. 1‑10, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748‑9326/9/7/074007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/074007
Penn State. “Wastewater.” Office of the Psychical Plant. https://www.opp.psu.edu/unit/wastewater (8.01.2024).
Pintilie, Loredana, et al. “Urban Wastewater Reclamation for Industrial Reuse: An LCA Case Study.” Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 139, 2016, pp. 1‑14, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.209. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.209
Ramm, Klara. “Considerations Related to the Application of the EU Water Reuse Regulation to the Production of Snow from Reclaimed Water.” Circular Economy and Sustainability, vol. 2, 2022, pp. 569‑587, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615‑021‑00075‑4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00075-4
Ramm, Klara, and Marzena Smol. “Water Reuse–Analysis of the Possibility of Using Reclaimed Water Depending on the Quality Class in the European Countries.” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 17, 2023, p. 12781, https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712781. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712781
Sady, Monika, et al. “The Role of Universities in Sustainability‑Oriented Competencies Development: Insights from an Empirical Study on Polish Universities.” Administrative Sciences, vol. 9, no. 3, 2019, p. 62, https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci9030062. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci9030062
Smol, Marzena. “Circular Economy in Wastewater Treatment Plant–Water, Energy and Raw Materials Recovery.” Energies, vol. 16, no. 9, 2023, p. 3911, https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093911. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093911
Smol, Marzena. “Is the Green Deal a Global Strategy? Revision of the Green Deal Definitions, Strategies and Importance in Post‑COVID Recovery Plans in Various Regions of the World.” Energy Policy, vol. 169, 2022, p. 113152, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113152. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113152
Smol, Marzena, et al. “Circular Economy Model Framework in the European Water and Wastewater Sector.” Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, vol. 22, 2020, pp. 682‑697, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163‑019‑00960‑z. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00960-z
Swisher, David M. “Penn State’s Wastewater Treatment System: Embracing Water Sustainability.” The Spring Creek Watershed Atlas, 8 March 2019, https://www.springcreekwatershedatlas.org/post/2019/03/08/penn‑states‑wastewater‑treatment‑system‑embracing‑water‑sustainability (10.09.2024).
University Area Joint Authority. “Wastewater: A Valuable Resouce.” UAJA, https://uaja.com/ (8.01.2024).
Woodward, Emily E., et al. “Vadose Zone Transport of Natural and Synthetic Estrogen Hormones at Penn State’s ‘Living Filter’ Wastewater Irrigation Site.” Journal of Environmental Quality, vol. 43, no. 6, 2014, pp. 1933‑1941, https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2014.04.0153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2014.04.0153
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
