A Process Modelling-Life Cycle Assessment-MultiObjective Optimization tool for the eco-design of conventional treatment processes of potable water

The PM-LCA-MOO tool was successfully applied to a test bed case of an existing drinking water plant located in the Paris region and resulted in a set of alternative solutions, known as the global Pareto-optimal front that trades different objectives against each other. Here, the objectives are the minimization of environmental impacts using the ReCiPe method (according to ISO 14040/44), the minimization of operation costs, and the maximization of produced water quality. According to conventional drinking water plants, the quality of water produced has to be optimized together with other environmental and economic objectives in order to grant fair design solutions. The quality of water produced incorporates multiple drinkability criteria that were aggregated in order to indicate water quality by way of a unique quality index the 'Average Water Quality Score'.