More Water-Energy Tools

For a complete description of available tools, download: Water-Energy Toolkit: Understanding the Carbon Footprint of Your Water

Over the past few years, a number of useful tools have been developed by organizations seeking to increase awareness of the energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with water use and the benefits of using water more efficiently. Here we describe six additional tools that can be used by water utilities, planners or the general public to gain a better understanding of the water-energy connections in their communities. The tools include:

These tools are generally more robust than River Network's 'simple' calculators and thus will likely require more detailed input data from your water utility.

Water to Air Models

Pacific Institute
Available at: http://www.pacinst.org/resources/water_to_air_models/index.htm

Pacific Institute’s Water to Air Models consist of two similar but distinct Microsoft Excel-based tools that allow users to quantify the energy and air emissions that result from urban or agricultural water use. The Water to Air Models provide water managers or other interested parties a better understanding of the relationship between water management decisions, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and air quality. One model is for urban water districts and the other for agricultural districts.

The models provide a flexible but consistent framework for quantifying the energy and air quality dimensions of water management decisions. The tools may appear a bit daunting at first look, but the Pacific Insitute has produced a users manual that provides straightforward, detailed instructions on how to use the Water to Air Models (the users manual is available through the link above).

For an example of how a water utility, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, used the Urban Water to Air Model to quantify the energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions that resulted from their water conservation efforts, see their report "From Watts to Water" (PDF)

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Personal Water-Energy-Climate Calculator (WECalc)

Pacific Institute
Available at: http://www.wecalc.org/

The Pacific Institute has developed an interactive online public education tool called WECalc, the Water-Energy-Climate Calculator. The tool, which was released to the public in July 2010, enables individuals and households to quantify their water use and its associated energy and greenhouse gas emissions through an interactive, user-friendly interface. The tool is designed to provide users with a detailed assessment of their water use, but is equipped with default values and helpful tips that enable people with varying levels of knowledge to utilize the tool. After water use information has been collected, the tool generates customized suggestions for ways in which consumers can save water, energy and money. This tool is an excellent way to inform students and the general public about the water-energy connections while providing users with specific actions they can take to begin saving energy by saving water.

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WaterSmart Scenario Builder Soft Path Water Analysis Tool

POLIS Project for Ecological Governance
Available at: http://www.poliswaterproject.org/toolkit#calculator

The WaterSmart Scenario Builder is a Microsoft Excel-based calculator that allows users to explore the potential for water and greenhouse gas emissions savings through water efficiency and conservation programs. The Scenario Builder was developed by researchers from the POLIS Project for Ecological Governance, an interdisciplinary research center located at the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC.

The Scenario Builder is designed to develop and test various future water scenarios using a “backcasting framework,” a planning approach that envisions a desired future scenario then works backwards to determine the steps required to connect the present with future goals. This calculator is not intended to replace a detailed conservation audit or water efficiency plan, but assists communities with a preliminary evaluation of various demand-side management scenarios.
The Scenario Builder can be useful for water planners or watershed groups interested in comparing the water and energy costs of developing new supplies to water conservation or efficiency approaches. It is important to keep in mind that the tool uses metric units of measurement instead of gallons and acre feet, which are more commonly used in the United States water sector. When using this tool units may need to be converted.

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Water Savings and Energy Calculator

U.S. EPA, WaterSense Program
Available at: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/calculate_your_water_savings.html

This simple web-based calculator was developed by the EPA’s WaterSense program. It is designed for individuals to calculate the water and energy savings that their household could achieve by switching to WaterSense certified faucets or toilets, which are at least 20% more efficient than current standards. The calculator was released in Fall 2008 and requires only basic inputs to run. This calculator is a good tool for educating the public on the potential to save energy through water efficiency and can help raise awareness of the multiple benefits of water efficiency and the EPA’s WaterSense program.

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Water-Energy Sustainability Tool (WEST Model)

Arpad Horvath and Jennifer Stokes, UC Berkeley
Available at: http://west.berkeley.edu

The Water-Energy Sustainability Tool, or WEST Model, has been developed and completed by Professor Arpad Horvath and Dr. Jennifer Stokes at the University of California Berkeley. The WEST Model is a Microsoft Excel-based tool that uses a life-cycle assessment (LCA) to determine the complete environmental effects of water system infrastructure and their operation. LCA is a proven methodology for systematically quantifying what is commonly referred to as the “cradle-to-grave” material and energy inputs and environmental impacts of a given project.

According to the developers of WEST, the intended users of the tool are water system designers, utility operators, civil engineers, and researchers. Users should have a working knowledge of water supply, access to data related to a real or hypothetical water system, and a desire to learn more about the environmental and economic implications of their decisions.

River and watershed groups should encourage their water utility or respective environmental agencies to utilize the WEST Model in order to properly analyze the costs associated with new and existing water supply projects. Detailed data inputs are required, so river and watershed groups should work with their utilities to properly run the tool and use it to inform their decision making process. According to its developers, WEST can inform decisions regarding:

  • Water Source Selection: To provide additional water, is it preferable to build a new pipeline, construct a new reservoir, desalinate water from a new source or implement a recycled water program?
  • Material Selection: For a particular pipeline installation, is steel or plastic pipe better for the environment?
  • Process Selection: Is it preferable to implement membrane or traditional filtration? Which disinfection method is more environmentally detrimental: chlorine, ozone or ultraviolet light?
  • Energy Source Selection: What percentage of the environmental effects associated with a water system is associated with material production? Electricity use? What if all our electricity came from solar power, how much would that reduce emissions?
  • Supplier Selection: How much can we reduce our environmental effects by purchasing from local suppliers?

The WEST Model has been developed with a companion tool, the Wastewater-Energy Sustainability Tool (WWEST), which allows users to conduct a life-cycle assessment of wastewater projects in addition to water supply projects.

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Water Conservation Tracking Tool

Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE)
Available at: http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/Tracking-Tool.aspx (for AWE members only)

The Water Conservation Tracking Tool is a Microsoft Excel-based model that can evaluate the water savings, costs and benefits of conservation programs for a specific water utility. This tool provides a standardized methodology for water savings and benefit-cost accounting. It requires data on the utility’s water system and operations, and includes a library of pre-defined conservation activities from which users can construct conservation programs.

Water utility managers can use the Tool in a variety of ways to aid their water resource planning and operations. According to the Alliance for Water Efficiency, the Water Conservation Tracking Tool can:

  • Quickly compare alternative conservation measures in terms of their water savings potential, impact on system costs and potential benefits to utility customers.
  • Develop long-range conservation plans. Construct conservation portfolios containing up to 50 separate conservation program activities.
  • Track the implementation, water savings, costs and benefits of actual conservation activities over time.
  • Evaluate a utility’s changing revenue requirement with conservation.

The Alliance for Water Efficiency is currently seeking funding to include energy and greenhouse gas emissions factors into the tool’s design. Although the Water Conservation Tracking Tool doesn’t currently have energy factors integrated into its design, the tool can help determine water-related energy savings by quantifying the water savings potential of conservation programs—the first step in determining energy savings. Once water savings potential is quantified, users can combine their findings with information on the energy intensity of their water and wastewater systems and the end-uses being analyzed. For more information on estimating the energy intensity of your water systems, see Estimating the Energy Intensity of Your Water: The 'Simple' Method (PDF).

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