Krüger WABAG at the Wasser Berlin
Assessment of CO2 emissions in water treatment –
CARIX® process, Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis
by comparison
Berlin, 15 June 2011 – With the selection of the appropriate process technologies
and the design of water treatment plants, the assessment of associated
CO2 emissions becomes more and more important with many investment decisions
worldwide. In the UK, for example, an assessment of the expected greenhouse gas
emissions is part of every standard call for tenders for public projects. Also in the
industry, many globally operating companies – for example in food production – have
set their own sights for stepwise reduction of their emissions, continuously reporting
back on what they have achieved. Other players have a responsible attitude towards
natural resources and focus on the improvement of the energy efficiency, if only for
monetary reasons. Also, this has a positive impact on the carbon footprint.
Therefore, Krüger WABAG, as well as other companies from Veolia’s water
technology branch, started in 2009 to systematically assess their processes in water
and waste water treatment by the emissions of greenhouse gases throughout the
entire life cycle. At the Wasser Berlin, the carbon footprints of different processes for
softening of drinking water were compared for the first time ever: the Carix® ionexchange process, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.
Beside CO2, mainly methane (CH4) and nitrogen oxide (N2O) belong to the most
important greenhouse gas emissions which are the chief cause for the global
warming. Fossil energy sources as the main source of anthropogenic greenhouse
gases are exhaustible resources, the prices of which are continuously rising
according to their increasing shortage. Therefore, a future-oriented strategy in every
company will reduce the energy dependence and the environmental impairment.
The carbon footprint is the total of greenhouse gas emissions, caused directly or
indirectly by a person, a company, a product or an event. Thanks to the total carbon
footprint assessment, Krüger WABAG is in the position to determine different
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„Carbon Footprint“:
solutions for water treatment and indicate possible savings with the associated costs and
hardness components, sulphate and nitrate from drinking water. Tested were the
CARIX® ion-exchange process, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.
The assessment
The survey carried out is based on the values of a CARIX® unit being in operation
with the actual operating costs and consumptions. This unit is compared with a
nanofiltration unit and a reverse osmosis unit, both of an analogue design. A
common index is the CO2 equivalents (g CO2/m3 product water) being generated
during the entire lifecycle of the CARIX®, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis units.
For all three cases, an average lifecycle of 25 years was taken as a basis. The basic
output of each plant is 244 m3 of water per hour.
The total emissions are divided into three main categories:

Emissions being generated during the operation of the unit (raw water supply,
electric power consumption and operating materials)

Emissions being generated during engineering and construction of the unit

Emissions being avoided due to the CO2 consumption
For calculation of emissions during engineering and construction of the units, each
individual component of the system is assessed independently. The different raw
materials such as steel, aluminium and various types of plastic materials are
quantified and multiplied by their respective CO2 emission coefficients. The
coefficients used by Krüger WABAG and Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies
come from several internationally accepted databases. The most important factors
for the operating period are the types of raw water being used, energy consumption
and consumable materials.
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advantages, for example, with processes for partial desalination and removal of
Test result
of the comparatively low electric power consumption and the reduction of emissions
by the CO2 being bound in the waste water. Compared with the CARIX® unit, the
carbon footprint of the nanofiltration and reverse osmosis units were 68% and 88%
higher, respectively. That is they have major effects on the climate and the
environment as well as considerably higher operating costs (see fig. 1).
The CARIX® (carbon dioxide regenerated ion-exchangers) unit consists of ionexchange resins where the partial desalination and removal of hardness components
occurs. The reaction product is carbonic acid which breaks down into water and CO2.
In the downstream pure water degasifier, the CO2 is removed again from the water
by air stripping. For regeneration of the ion-exchanger filters, CO2 from the recovery
as well as from a CO2 tank is used instead of chemicals. Thus, an increased salt
content in the waste water can be avoided. The CO2 used in the process is provided
from a waste gas which is generated as a waste product from fertiliser production
(ammonia synthesis) and which would otherwise pass into the atmosphere. In the
eluate degasifier, CO2 is recovered to about 95% from the regeneration flow. The
remaining part is chemically bound in the waste water and then conveyed into the
discharge system (see fig. 2).
One important finding from the investigation: With all three units, the biggest share of
emissions comes from the electric power consumption during plant operation. The
category raw water supply during operation registers emissions connected with the
energy consumption due to generation of additional raw water. The emissions
resulting during plant engineering and construction, as well as emissions resulting
from the production of the operating materials, only represent a small share of the
total emissions. The ”avoided emissions“ are the share of greenhouse gases being
bound and prevented to pass into the atmosphere.
Further information on www.krueger-wabag.de;
contact krueger-wabag@veoliawater.com
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With 161 g CO2-e/m3, CARIX® unit has the lowest carbon footprint, which is a result
Picture 1:
Emission per m3
350
CARIX
Nanofiltration
Reverse osmosis
300
CO2 trapped in wastewater
250
Water consumption
Carbonic acid
200
Antiscalant
g CO2-e/m3
Energy, add. raw water feed.
150
Energy, operation (+10%)
Electronic components
Irrigator PP/PE
100
Membranes
Exchanger resin
50
Pipes, PP/PE
Steel, tanks
0
Steel, pipelines
CARIX
-50
-100
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Picture 2:
Picture 4:
Carix® plant
Picture 5:
Reverse osmosis plant
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Picture 3
Krüger WABAG, like Berkefeld, belongs to Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies. At its sites in Celle,
Zwenkau near Leipzig and Bayreuth, more than 450 employees plan, develop and service projects for
water and wastewater treatment. A network of more than 50 service technicians and 30 sales engineers
throughout Germany ensures competent and speedy support.
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS), subsidiary of Veolia Water, is a leading design &
build company and a specialized provider of technological solutions in water treatment. With over 9,600
employees in 57 countries, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies recorded revenue of €2.15 billion
Euros in 2010.
Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water and wastewater
services. Specialized in outsourcing services for municipal authorities, as well as industrial and service
companies, it is also one of the world's major designers of technological solutions and constructor of
facilities needed in water and wastewater services. With 96,000 employees in 67 countries, Veolia
Water provides water service to 100 million people and wastewater service to 71 million. Its 2010
revenue amounted to €12.1 billion.
Press contact:
Krüger WABAG
VWS Deutschland GmbH
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies
Stefan Jakubik
Press spokesman, Head of Marketing & Communications
Lückenweg 5, 29227 Celle, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 5141 803-174
Mobile: +49 (0) 151 12559226
stefan.jakubik@veoliawater.com
www.berkefeld.de
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