The Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH organised a closing ceremony for the Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation (WaCCliM) project in Thailand. WaCCliM Thailand has supported the introduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures in the wastewater system of 4 pilot areas.

With the world focusing its efforts on limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 ºC, every sector has started planning how it can achieve the reduction target. According to the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO), 47.5 percent of GHG emissions from the waste sector come from wastewater management, making up 2 percent of national emissions. To reduce national emissions, Thailand has issued a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) roadmap (2021 – 2030). The reduction target for wastewater management is 700,000 tons carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent by 2030.

Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation or WaCCliM Project is funded through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The project was initiated in 2014 with the global objective to reduce the carbon footprint of water and wastewater utilities by introducing carbon-reducing measures while maintaining or improving performance, and supporting the development of a new strategy and framework for climate mitigation in the water and wastewater sector. The experiences gained from the project approach in each pilot area will be integrated into a national guideline for water and wastewater utilities to move towards carbon neutrality. In Thailand, the WaCCliM project has worked in 4 pilot areas, namely Chiang Mai, Songkhla, Krabi and Chonburi provinces, advising on mitigation measures to improve performance and reduce carbon emissions. In the meantime, WaCCliM Thailand has also supported the Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) in developing a new framework for domestic wastewater utilities in relation to climate mitigation. The results from project implementation will serve as guidelines for other wastewater utilities in Thailand.

One of the results from this cooperation is the ECAM (Energy performance and Carbon emissions Assessment and Monitoring) Tool, the first assessment tool for water and wastewater utilities to estimate GHG emissions and which can be used for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV). From the initial estimation in the Thai pilot areas, around 7,500 tons CO₂ equivalent can be avoided each year, a 28 percent reduction compared to business-as-usual (BAU).

Mr. Chira Wongburana, Acting Director General of Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) noted that climate change is one of the areas to which WMA is giving priority. “We are therefore working closely with municipalities to provide high-quality wastewater treatment services, while increasing awareness of domestic wastewater management and the impact on water resources from improper management. Since climate change can be affected from wastewater management; electricity consumption and treatment processes, there is an opportunity from wastewater sector to support climate mitigation. We also plan to use ECAM Tool for planning a strategy to achieve climate mitigation in domestic wastewater sector of Thailand in the future. The ECAM Tool we received from the WaCCliM project is applied to the results and used within the Thailand Wastewater Monitoring and Reporting Center. This reports the GHG emissions results from real-time electricity consumption and these results will be reported and can be viewed through our web page. This tool is open and free to access via wacclim.org. The website also provides methodology guidelines and training documents for interested organisations who would like to assess GHG emissions from the water sector. With the project now ending, WMA is ready to go beyond the project scope and use the ECAM Tool on other domestic wastewater utilities for which WMA has responsibility.”

Ms. Chutima Jongpakdee, WaCCliM project manager, GIZ Thailand said “During the 4 years of cooperation, WaCCliM Thailand has supported WMA by proposing mitigation measures to improve the performance of the domestic wastewater system and develop a strategy which will serve as a framework for climate mitigation in the domestic wastewater sector. The most important component in achieving the reduction target sustainably is quality of data. GIZ together with the International Water Association (IWA) have thus focused on capacity building of WMA staff over the 4 years, providing them with knowledge on how GHG emissions in wastewater systems are produced both directly and indirectly, as well as training them in using the ECAM Tool so they are able to assess GHG emissions by themselves. This approach raised awareness among WMA staff involved in data collection and operating the treatment system and helped them understand why collecting data is essential to assess the level of emissions produced from their system. This improved quality of data is important for developing a national framework on climate mitigation in the domestic wastewater sector. The final developed framework will be feasible and achievable. The sector will then support local authorities in moving towards a low carbon society.”

The ECAM tool is free and available at http://wacclim.org/ecam/index.php. Guidelines, calculation principles and training documents are also provided.

Recently, municipal and Bangkok-based officers from the Thai Wastewater Management Authority participated in a workshop on the ECAM Tool and GHG emissions in wastewater sector. The workshop not only provided technical knowledge but also an opportunity to train others in this area.

Mexico ambitiously committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions when it ratified and formally joined the Paris Agreement in 2015. Today, almost three years later, the water sector in Mexico is showing promising results. Pilot utilities of the Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation (WaCCliM) Project have achieved a reduction of more than 2,500 t CO₂e each year.

In Mexico, the water sector faces multiple challenges. Water and wastewater utilities have a difficult task meeting the water demand while offering low tariffs. This challenge, coupled with a complex regulatory framework, has led to unsustainable water abstraction practices. With rising water scarcity, Mexico’s water sector will face even more challenges during the coming decades. Greater focus on its energy requirements, GHG implications, clear GHG reduction targets as well as the recognition of numerous co-benefits of a circular economy of water will be a crucial part of the policy responses to these challenges.

Despite these difficulties, Mexico’s water sector has a tremendous potential to foster a positive transition towards climate mitigation and adaptation. In order to achieve its goals, the Mexican government has included efficient water supply management, treatment of wastewater, and the recovery of energy as strategies to achieve its climate commitments. Consequently, since 2013, the WaCCliM Project has been supporting Mexican water utilities in taking actions to reduce their carbon footprint. Within this scope, the Energy Performance and Carbon Emissions Assessment and Monitoring (ECAM) tool was developed to help water utilities to identify their main GHG emission sources and saving opportunities in a holistic manner.

The WaCCliM project is a joint initiative between the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the International Water Association (IWA) and is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). In Mexico, the WaCCliM project is working with the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) and the National Water Association of Mexico (ANEAS).

The WaCCliM pilot utilities of San Francisco del Rincón, SAPAF and SITRATA, are pioneering the way towards sustainable, low-carbon urban water management. Following the WaCCliM roadmap, they have introduced innovative measures that resulted in energy consumption reductions of more than 25%. Likewise, they have lowered their operational costs and improved productivity: In 2016, the utility increased its wastewater treatment coverage by 30%. More than 2,500 t CO₂e are now avoided each year, equivalent to annual emissions of 650 people living in Mexico[1]. Additionally, the operation of the biogas cogeneration system provides energy from the wastewater that would be sufficient to power 100 Mexican households[2]with clean energy. Besides economic and operational benefits, WaCCliM utilities are taking the lead in GHG emissions accounting and GHG mitigation in the water sector, seizing the opportunity to become more efficient and effective in an uncertain future.

A carbon-neutral development requires all sectors to innovate and pursue solutions to climate challenges. In Mexico, the water sector has taken a big step forward and is pioneering the way for other sectors and countries around the world.

[1] 3866 kg/capita/yr (2014), Source: World Bank

[2] 1652 kWh/hh/yr (2014), Source: World Energy Council

 

Foto credits: SAPAF, GIZ México, Ranjin Fernando.

This article was originally published on IKI Alliance Mexico. 

Peru is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. A low-lying coastal area, with vast arid and semi-arid lands, much of Peru is liable to floods, droughts and desertification. 72% of the total number of national emergencies are due to hydro-meteorological threats. Already struggling to secure a reliable supply to meet user’s demand, more frequent and severe natural disasters pose an increasing burden on water utilities in Peru. Huge differences in altitudes require enormous amounts of energy to distribute the water and lead to high energy costs.

The WaCCliM project in Peru cooperates with the General Directorate for Environmental Affairs under the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation, which is responsible for environmental policy in the water and sanitation sector including both mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Jordan is one of the world ́s most water-scarce countries. Energy consumption accounts for around 73 % of Jordan’s national emissions and 15 % of these are attributed to the water sector. Water pumping is responsible for the majority of this consumption and is estimated to increase twofold by 2030. Jordan is therefore facing a long-term need to reduce its water and energy consumption.

The WaCCliM project is demonstrating that the water sector can reduce GHG emissions: in the short-term by improving operational efficiency and adopting energy efficiency measures; in the long-term by proactively upgrading and reforming their drinking water and wastewater systems. Water utilities working with WaCCliM are becoming sector leaders, and are seizing the opportunity to become more efficient and effective in an uncertain future.

In the past, a healthy Mae Ping River ran through Chiang Mai in the northwestern part of Thailand. It flowed south, merging with three other rivers -Wang, Yom and Nan- to become the Chao Phraya River, Thailand’s major river and source of water for millions of people. The Ping River was part and parcel of the daily lives of Chiang Mai residents. “Water provided us with fish, crab and shells”, remembers an old Chiang Mai resident. “Once the water was clear but now it has become a smelly and polluted wastewater carrier”, says Mr. Surachet Nokham, Chiang Mai’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Manager.

A polluted river not only stirs residents’ nostalgic memories of past recreational activities in and along its waters; a filthy Ping River poses both human and environmental health issues, and may also threaten the image of Chiang Mai as the “Northern Rose” of Thailand.

One of the main drivers of pollution is the discharge of untreated domestic wastewater directly into the river. This results in a deterioration of water quality, which impacts on human and environmental health as well as releasing significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a major contributor to climate change. Worldwide, about 80 % of all wastewater is discharged into the environment without any treatment, with many regions lacking the basic infrastructure to better manage wastewater. Treating the wastewater we release back to nature would address issues of water quality, environmental health and GHG emissions.

Thailand’s Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) was founded in 1980 to take responsibility for national wastewater management, and provide management and technical assistance to municipalities operating wastewater treatment systems. Mr. Chira Wongburana, Acting Director General of WMA, has recognized this as a priority, “The first and foremost water management issue that we need to address is to bring back clean water”.

Through the International Climate Initiative, the WMA is now working with the Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation (WaCCliM) project to optimise wastewater management at pilot utilities in Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Krabi and Sansuk. In Chang Mai, studies identified untreated wastewater flowing  into the public canals of the city as not only polluting its waterway so that they were no longer fit for bathing, but also that it was producing significant amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, both GHGs with a large global warming potential.

The utility plans to install gauging stations at five wastewater discharge points where the water flows into the Mae Kha canal to control the public canal of Chiang Mai City. Mr. Surachet expects “to see a better quality of water in several water courses”.

Wastewater treatment is not only a key piece of the solution to Thailand’s acute water pollution. In a country prone to the effects of climate change, where wastewater treatment accounts for about half of the total GHG emissions of the waste sector and contributes to high energy related emissions, wastewater treatment becomes an area with huge potential for mitigation measures. Participation from citizens, governments and the private sector are crucial to set this in motion.

“If we are able to take the steps at the sources of wastewater, less energy will be required in the treatment process, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Having an efficient wastewater treatment system in the industrial sector, as well as participation from citizens in saving water and not throwing rubbish into water sources, will help reduce GHG from the wastewater sector”, stated WMA Director General, Mr. Chira. “If both the public sector and citizens participate, I believe Thailand can reach the reduction target of 20-25% by 2030 that it committed to at the climate change conference in 2015. We already have a roadmap for 2021-2030 and the wastewater sector will reduce its emissions by 3.6%”, he concluded.

Based on this roadmap, wastewater treatment can contribute up to 30% of the total GHG mitigation potential in the Thai waste sector. The water and wastewater sector can become a catalyst for climate action in other sectors within Thailand; if they succeed, Thais might once again swim and fish in the country’s waterways.

Watch this short documentary:

WaCCliM in Thailand from WaCCliM on Vimeo.