Statistical characterization of water resources from conventional and unconventional sources

Código

I-EBHE0025

Autores

Daniele Ganora

Tema

WG 1.10: Hydrologic Design - Solutions & Communication

Resumo

Water from natural resources is subject to variability at different timescales; typically, this variability is represented through probability distributions and regime curves. When resource availability does not match water demand, it is shifted in time with reservoir storage; otherwise, if storage is not possible or not sufficient, the mismatch produces a water deficit. A possible alternative option is to ?produce? water from industrialized processes, usually with seawater desalination; these unconventional sources are becoming more and more often adopted in dry contexts where poor-quality waters (e.g., brackish or sea water) are easily accessible but not directly usable. On the other hand, unconventional resources are energy demanding and their optimal use is thus related to energy availability. This work aims to investigate how the unconventional water resources can complement natural water availability, by considering production from small-scale desalination plant. On the contrary of large-scale (centralized) water treatment plants, that are usually designed to use dedicated energy sources, small-scale (decentralized) systems can in principle exploit renewable energy production or residual energy from the grid. This makes them sensitive to energy availability and variability. In this context, a statistical framework of analysis is proposed to jointly account for conventional and unconventional water resources, respectively driven by environmental and energy variability. Some examples are finally reported.