WATER UTILITIES
Globally, water utility plants use a lot of energy and despite the efforts taken by environmental departments of different, the problem of high energy costs still bedevils these utilities. Accordingly, in the United States, these plants consume energy that goes approximately to 2% the total power consumption in the country (U.S Environmental Protection Agency, n.d). The water utility sector comprises drinking water plants and wastewater systems. These plants are essential because they supply safe drinking water and ensure that wastewater is efficiently managed to avoid contamination and environmental pollution. In the United Kingdom, management of these systems involves using machines and systems that run all the time and they consume a lot of electric power (Chini et al., 2016). In California, close to 19% of the state’s power is used to pump, treat, collect, discharge water and wastewater.
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The problem these utility plants face is skyrocketing energy costs. Energy costs make up approximately 25% to 30% of the total maintenance and operation of the plants as per the estimations of the ( U.S Environmental Protection Agency. This department collaborates with these plants to ensure that energy costs are effectively managed and reduced. Most of these utility plants rely on electric power to operate, and it is high time that this position is reconsidered, and renewable generated electricity is used. The use of green energy is a perfect example, and drinking water and wastewater plants can resort to this type of energy to conduct their essential operations (Byrne, 2017). They can use solar power, wind, biomass, geothermal, and using hydroelectricity that has a low environmental impact. Using green energy is important for utility firms because it improves their environmental performance and minimizes huge operational costs occasioned when electricity is solely relied on as a source of energy.
The drinking water and wastewater plants can achieve this by acquiring renewable energy from renewable energy certificates (REC) and power grid directly. These energy sources are effective because they positively demonstrate the social and environmental aspects of energy produced by renewable sources of energy. It helps these plants to make informed decisions and choose renewable energy even though the local energy provider might not be offering the same option. In conclusion, drinking water and wastewater plants consume a lot of energy while providing essential services in the U.K (Mehr et al., 2017). They need to employ the use of energy-efficient systems or resort to renewable sources of energy to save on the high operational costs occasioned courtesy of high electricity consumption rates by these plants.