Onsite Food Waste Processing as an Opportunity to Conserve Water in a Medical Facility Case Study, Abu Dhabi

View/ open
Author
Seguela, Geraldine
Littlewood, John
Karani, George
Date
2017-03-28Acceptance date
2017-02-17
Type
Article
Publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
1876-6102 (ESSN)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This paper presents the case for soil and water conservation combined with waste recycling strategies in a desert type climate healthcare environment, which is based on the need for Abu Dhabi to decrease desalinated potable water consumption and increase its waste recycling rate to reduce environmental impact. The work documented in this paper forms part of the first author's Professional Doctorate change project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at a medical facility in use since 2015. The project is investigating two aspects: the feasibility of reusing both the site produced organic biological waste as an organic fertilizer and the effluent produced for landscape irrigation. For this paper the sole aspect of the effluent will be discussed. The context is a newly built medical facility in Abu Dhabi with a 21,600m2 building footprint area surrounded by a 29,000m2 vegetated open spaces. The city, located on the south west coast of the UAE, is dominated by sandy and salty soil, high temperature and humidity [1]. Five types of effluent generated by three types of dehydrators have been tested for general characteristics, inorganic and organic compounds, and metal parameters and analysed against local authorities’ parameters limits to verify compliance and establish suitability for landscape irrigation and water feature reuse. The effluent test results show absence of microbiological contaminants. The quality of the effluent shows that secondary and tertiary water treatment would be needed to regulate the BOD, turbidity and pH levels to align with the local regulation water recycling requirements. The next steps are for the facility dehydrator effluent to be tested onsite to provide an account of its quality for reuse and for selecting a tertiary treatment type if necessary suitable for landscape irrigation. This to understand how food waste processed onsite can impact the environment, operation and maintenance cost and practices, greenhouse gas emissions, and building systems energy consumption. This study may be relevant to local competent authorities responsible for making and adjusting standards on non-clinical wastewater reuse and recycling should dehydrators be reused at a larger city scale.
Journal/conference proceeding
Energy Procedia;
Citation
Seguela, G., Littlewood, J and Karani, G. (2017) 'Onsite food waste processing as an opportunity to conserve water in
a medical facility case study, Abu Dhabi', Energy Procedia, 111(March), pp.548-557
Description
This article was published open access in Energy Procedia on 28 March 2017, available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.217
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.
-
A study to assess alternative water sources for reducing energy consumption in a medical facility case study, Abu Dhabi
Seguela, Geraldine; Littlewood, John; Karani, George (Elsevier, 2017-10-23)This paper presents the case for water and energy conservation in a desert type climate healthcare environment, which is based on the need for Abu Dhabi to decrease potable water and energy consumption to reduce environmental ... -
Water resource management in the context of a non-potable water reuse case study in arid climate
Seguela, Geraldine; Littlewood, John; Karani, George (Springer, 2020-06-01)This study evaluates an existing non-potable water system serving outdoor services for a medical facility case study (MFCS) in Abu Dhabi (AD), United Arab Emirates, using mixed methods research to identify water demand ... -
A GHG Metric Methodology to Assess Onsite Buildings Non-Potable Water System for Outdoor Landscape Use
Seguela, Geraldine; Littlewood, John; Karani, George (MDPI, 2020-02-16)This paper documents a water:energy greenhouse gas (GHG) metric methodology for a decentralized non-potable water system that was developed as part of a Professional Doctorate in Engineering (DEng) research project by the ...