Urban Smart Sewering

Massachusetts

2 MGD

Community Water and Energy Recovery Centers

91,000 to 136,000

MM BTU/year of thermal energy available in reclaimed wastewater

Challenge

In many urban areas conventional sewers collect and transport wastewater to wastewater treatment plants, from which the treated effluent is discharged into the environment downstream of the served area. These sewers also collect and remove local water through inflow and infiltration, which impact the local hydrology.

The challenge was to develop and analyze an integrated model of wastewater and food waste management that recycles these resources close to their sources, and restores the local watershed hydrology and ecology.

Highlights

Technical Advisory Committee included Federal, State, Regional and Municipal Agencies
Viewed wastewater as a resource to be utilized near where it is generated
Locally addressed food-water-energy nexus issues
Integrated with green infrastructure and ecological restoration

The Solution

Summary

NSU was retained by the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) to utilize NSU’s technical and financial model for assessing integrated infrastructure projects. The CRWA brought together a technical advisory panel, to which NSU presented our approach to recycling water, thermal energy and food waste, and the results of model analyses, over a series of meetings. The technical advisory panel provided valuable feedback which was then incorporated into the technical, financial and ownership approaches. The CRWA evaluated green infrastructure alternatives in the study areas.

Solutions

NSU fine-tuned their model for this application, and utilized local inputs for the metropolitan Boston area and analyzed the technical and financial aspects of two specific neighborhood urban smart sewering scenarios in the City of Boston. Assessments of business case alternatives for project delivery included Design-Build, Design-Build Operate, and Design-Build-Own-Operate approaches. The assessment also included infrastructure ownership alternatives, such as: public; private; and public-private partnerships. The CRWA also evaluated larger economic impacts of smart sewering.