Assessing GHG impact for a sustainable water solutions company- Yash

A Project by Yash

Business Context

Clean Water is a company specializing in the development of innovative products to treat wastewater and rejuvenate water bodies through Floating Wetlands. These wetlands are infused with bacteria to enable microbial action in water bodies curbing eutrophication and onset of algal blooms. The floating wetlands are coupled with aerators to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water bodies that treat the Biological oxygen demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and increase the biodiversity and fisheries.

Clean Water wanted to assess:

  • Environmental Impact of rejuvenating water bodies
  • Social Impact generated from treated water bodies
  • Explore Carbon Markets

Key Deliverables

  • GHG inventory for wastewater treatment and rejuvenation of water bodies
  • GHG inventory for STPs
  • Carbon emission calculation tool
  • Novel methodology for exploring Carbon Markets
  • Social Impact Assessment framework

Process

Methodology

  • Literature Review: A thorough literature review has been undertaken to assess different integrated wetland systems and their effectiveness to treat wastewater and rejuvenate water bodies. This literature review spanned across different integrated wetland systems as theorized by IUCN and a comparative analysis was drawn with Clean Water’s wetland systems. Additional review of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) was undertaken to develop a baseline for wastewater treatment and their GHG emissions.
  • GHG inventory: GHG inventory was developed based on the various tests being undertaken by Clean Water to assess the water quality before and after deployment of floating wetlands. An EIA was conducted to analyze the initial water quality. The factors being considered are:
  1. pH 
  2. ⁠Nitrate as NO3 
  3. Total Suspended Solid (TSS) 
  4. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 
  5. ⁠Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) 
  6. ⁠Dissolved Oxygen 
  7. ⁠Nitrite as NO2 
  8. Ammonical Nitrogen as NH4N 
  9. Total Nitrogen as N 
  10. Phosphate as PO4

GHG inventory for STP was developed under the same data points and data was obtained from the municipal STPs.

  • GHG emission calculation Tool: Considering the data points being tracked a new equation is being developed for quantification of all these emissions to CO2eq to quantify carbon emissions. This tool is an easy to use automated tool that calculates the GHG emissions simply by entering the values of the selected data points
  • New Methodology: After taking inspiration from various CDM wastewater treatment methodologies, we are developing a novel methodology for carbon emission reductions and their quantification in carbon credits for floating wetland projects and explore the potential of entering carbon markets for such projects.
  • Social framework: We also developed a social impact assessment framework due to the societal benefits being generated from the various societal benefits from rejuvenation of water bodies. We considered multiple factors including-
    • Awareness
    • Cleanliness
    • Aesthetics
    • Lifestyle
    • Employment opportunities
    • Public Health and Safety
    • Biodiversity
    • Ecosystem health

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