Abstract
The ecological floating beds (EFB) are widely used in water quality restoration because of its low cost, high efficiency, and green characteristics. However, there is a potential impact of the EFB on the environment while water purification is not in progress. In this study, the life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) methods were used to evaluate the overall environment of mixed-fill and biofilm enhanced EFB. The results show that the total environmental impact of the mixed-fill ecological floating beds (MEFB) is greater than that of the biofilm ecological floating beds (BEFB). In the raw material acquisition and operational stages, the environmental impact of the MEFB is smaller than that of the BEFB, while the environmental impact of the MEFB during the construction phase is much greater than that of the BEFB. The environmental impact of the construction stage of the MEFB accounts for 98.3% of the environmental impact of the entire life cycle. The operational stage of the MEFB was eco-friendly with regard to eutrophication potential, photochemical oxidation potential, ozone layer depletion potential, human toxicity potential, freshwater aquatic eco-toxicity potential, and terrestrial eco-toxicity potential environmental impact, and these effects of the operational stage of the MEFB account for 45.5% of the total environmental impact. The impact of the BEFB on the environment during raw material acquisition, construction, and operation accounts for 46.7%, 37.7%, and 15.6%, respectively, of the entire life cycle impact. Both two EFB technologies, the capital cost was the main expenditure with LCC, accounting for 60.4% and 52.9% of the MEFB and BEFB, respectively.
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].
Abbreviations
- EFB:
-
ecological floating beds
- LCA:
-
life cycle assessment
- LCC:
-
life cycle cost
- MEFB:
-
mixed-fill ecological floating beds
- BEFB:
-
biofilm ecological floating beds
- LCIA:
-
life cycle inventory analysis
- PE:
-
person equivalent
- LCI:
-
life cycle inventory
- HDPE:
-
high-density polyethylene
- PVC:
-
polyvinyl chloride
- ADP:
-
abiotic depletion potential
- AP:
-
acidification potential
- EP:
-
eutrophication potential
- GWP:
-
global warming potential
- POCP:
-
photochemical oxidation potential
- ODP:
-
ozone layer depletion potential
- HTP:
-
human toxicity potential
- FAETP:
-
freshwater aquatic eco-toxicity potential
- TETP:
-
terrestrial eco-toxicity potential
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0401102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41361017), and the Natural Scientific Foundation of Jiangxi Province (20181BAB203021). We are also thankful to all our laboratory colleagues and research staff members for their constructive advice and help.
Funding
This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0401102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41361017), the Natural Scientific Foundation of Jiangxi Province (20181BAB203021).
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Xiaochen Yao: data curation, writing—original draft preparation and editing.
Guodi Zheng: development or design of methodology, writing—reviewing and editing.
Yun Cao: data curation, writing—original draft preparation.
Bao Yu: writing—original draft preparation and editing.
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Yao, X., Zheng, G., Cao, Y. et al. Life cycle and economic assessment of enhanced ecological floating beds applied water purification. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 49574–49587 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14008-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14008-z