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Home >> Publications >> Water Resource Balancing: Is a closed loop system possible that enables sustainable rural supplies?
 
9th March 2017

Water Resource Balancing: Is a closed loop system possible that enables sustainable rural supplies?

Water Resource Balancing; Cover photograph courtesy of: Matteo Tamburini, Richard Allan, The James Hutton Institute

The aim of this work was to carry out a mass balance of energy, nutrients and other potential resources at a range of scales (single house, small community and large urban scale). The focus of the study was on waste water treatment and resource  recovery. The study considered whether a closed loop cycle for water and energy was possible in these situations. In doing so, the project team identified technologies, systems and approaches that may need to be adopted to make this possible. Furthermore the project team considered economic factors for selected parameters and approaches as well as taking into account factors such as environmental impact, scalability and life cycle analysis (LCA).