Life Cycle Assessment of Filtration Systems of Reverse Osmosis Units: A Case Study of a University Campus

Abstract

Environmental concerns are gaining importance in ground water resource management. Reverse osmosis (RO) systems are commonly used for filtration of surface and ground water for domestic and commercial purposes. This study aims to analyze the environmental impacts of electricity, fresh water and material consumption in various types of RO systems. The evaluation tool used for this study is life cycle assessment (LCA) and for this purpose Umberto NXT Universal software with Eco-invent version 3.0 database has been utilized. The inventory analysis has been done for RO systems of four different capacities, viz 25, 50, 250, and 500 liters per hour (LPH). This research also provides comparison of quantitative impacts of different capacity RO systems. All inclusive, the study presents an insight into the environmental impacts of various RO systems used in India and also discuss the alternative technologies for filtration of surface and ground water.