[미국] 샌프란시스코 PUC, 지속가능한 물인프라 구축

기후변화에 대처하기 위한 협력의 필요성은 그 어느 때보다 더욱 중요하며, 물산업은 탄력적인 대응을 위해 함께 그룹화되고 있다.

 
물을 중단 없이 한 주 내내 하루 24시간 제공하는 것은 공중 보건을 위해 기본적으로 필수적인 일이다. 지속적인 공급은 샌프란시스코 공익사업위원회(SFPUC)의 최우선 사항이다. SFPUC는 식수 공급을 강화하는 데 도움이 되는 소규모의 현장 수처리 시스템을 통합함으로써 중앙 집중식 물인프라를 구축하고 있다.

 
SFPUC는 샌프란시스코의 주민 및 기업을 포함한 270만 명의 고객에게 물을 공급한다. 물의 85％는 요세미티(Yosemite) 국립공원의 헤치헤치(Hetch Hetchy) 저수지에서 공급받고, 나머지 15％는 샌프란시스코 만의 5개 지역 저수지에서 받고 있다.

 
‘One Water’방식을 통해 식수, 폐수, 우수, 잡배수 등 모든 물은 SFPUC에 따라 물순환의 모든 단계를 활용하는 자원으로 관리될 수 있다.

[원문보기]

BUILDING A RESILIENT WATER FUTURE IN SAN FRANCISCO

The need for collaboration to combat climate change is more crucial than ever before, and the water industry is grouping together to build a resilient response.

 
Delivering water 24 hours a day, seven days a week without interruption is a basic necessity for public health. This constant supply is a top priority for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). SFPUC is building upon its centralized water infrastructure by integrating smaller, onsite water treatment systems that help stretch drinking water supplies.

 
"Diversifying our water supplies is one of the most important steps we can take to plan for risks today and make our water supply more reliable for tomorrow. We are implementing several programs, including conservation, groundwater, recycled water, and non-potable programs, to diversify our water supply portfolio," said Paula Kehoe, Director of Water Services, SFPUC.

SFPUC delivers water to 2.7 million customers including residents and businesses in San Francisco. It relies on several reservoirs: 85% of the supply is sourced from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park, and the other 15% comes from five local reservoirs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 
Through a "One Water" approach, all water -- drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, graywater, and more -- can be managed as resources that utilize all stages of the water cycle according to SFPUC.

 
"We recognize an opportunity exists to build upon our centralized water infrastructure by integrating smaller, onsite water treatment systems to produce water fit for toilet flushing and irrigation that not only matches the right resource to the right use, but also helps us stretch our drinking water supplies," said Kehoe.

 
And as San Francisco Public Utilities Commission looks to diversify its water supply portfolio, the optimization of finite water and energy resources is one of their main focuses right now.

 
"Our mission has recently evolved with OneWaterSF. We are committed to a new approach to water and energy resource management," said Kehoe. "We are moving away from operating within traditional water, wastewater, and energy boundaries to developing projects and programs that consider the impact of one resource on another and taking a holistic view to optimize resources and maximize benefits across the organization."

 
Innovation is happening all over the world and utilities across the U.S. are implementing strategies to produce resources from wastewater, biosolids and biogas. As well as this, the water industry is keen to adopt new technologies for a sustainable future, but Kehoe admits there's areas that still need improvement.

 
"We are most interested in resource recovery technologies to generate drinking water, non-potable water, fertilizer and energy that can be optimized at various scales. With these new types of technologies becoming cost-effective, we can transform the water sector with resource recovery facilities of various sizes and scales not only in San Francisco, but throughout the world."

[출처 = Water World / 2017년 7월 26일]