Greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants and options for their reduction (EMČO, 2023 – 2026)
Despite the fact that wastewater treatment generates significant amounts of greenhouse gases (CH4, N2O, CO2), their monitoring is not centrally set up in detail. In large wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), although combustion of CH4 from digestion tanks is introduced, emissions are not monitored in the other process stages, even if significant quantities of GHGs are also emitted from “aerobic” stages, e.g. from the free levels of activation tanks or dosing tanks. In the case of smaller WWTPs, it can be said that emissions are not controlled at all, and a similar situation arises in the case of N2O, which is not monitored in any WWTPs today.
Therefore, the main objective of the project is to define, on the basis of testing on a model/semi-operational plant (i.e. by modelling the operating parameters), the conditions under which the WWTP can be operated with lower GHG emissions while maintaining sufficient efficiency of wastewater treatment. The model (semi-operational) plant will be a wastewater treatment plant to be operated on the premises of the VÚV TGM, v.v.i. as a domestic wastewater treatment plant connected to real wastewater with normal values of municipal pollution.
A partial objective of the project is also to determine CH4 and N2O emissions from real municipal WWTPs by measurement. Based on these measured values, emission factors for individual gases will be determined, which will then contribute to the refinement of national GHG inventories for the respective source category. The measurements will be carried out in particular on the technologies that are most represented in the Czech Republic and have significant shares in the volume of treated wastewater in the Czech Republic.
Project leader: T. G. Masaryk Research Institute of Water Management, v. v. i. (VÚV TGM)
Other partners:
Research Institute of Agricultural Technology, v. v. i. (VÚZT),
Czech Environmental Information Agency (CENIA)
Implementation period: April 2023-March 2026
Total project budget: 9 864 782 CZK (support 8 384 458 CZK)
Contact: Ivana Kopecká, ivana.kopecka@cenia.cz
