Chapter 1 -Introduction

Energy savings and sustainable design deserve special attention to be sure water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) have long-term adaptability and resilience to global climate change, volatile energy prices, and other predictable change scenarios. Municipal WRRFs in the United States use approximately 30.2 bil. kWh/yr, or approximately 0.8% of total electricity use in the United States (EPRI, 2013). Yet, of the approximately 14,780 WRRFs in the United States, only approximately 1268 (8.4%) include anaerobic digestion (which offers the potential to recovery chemical energy) and beneficially use this energy on site for production of power and/or heat (WEF, 2013).