Title | Author | Type | Year Published | Description | Download | Sponsor |
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Untapped potential: leak reduction is the most cost-effective urban water management tool | Amanda Rupiper, Joakim Weill, Ellen Bruno, Katrina Jessoe and Frank Loge | Peer-reviewed Article | 2022 | Providing sufficient, safe, and reliable drinking water is a growing challenge as water supplies become more scarce and uncertain. Meanwhile, water utilities in the United States lose approximately 17% of their delivered water to leaks each year. Using data from over 800 utilities across four U.S. states, California, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, we characterize the heterogeneity in water losses across the U.S., develop a model to assess the economically efficient level of losses, and use this model to compare the net benefits of several proposed water loss regulations and modeling approaches. | Read Article | |
A Visual Analytics System for Water Distribution System Optimization | Yiran Li, Erin Musabandesu, Takanori Fujiwara, Frank J. Loge, Kwan-Liu Ma | Short Paper | 2021 | The optimization of water distribution systems (WDSs) is vital to minimize energy costs required for their operations. A principal approach taken by researchers is identifying an optimal scheme for water pump controls through examining computational simulations of WDSs. However, due to a large number of possible control combinations and the complexity of WDS simulations, it remains non-trivial to identify the best pump controls by reviewing the simulation results. To address this problem, we design a visual analytics system that helps understand relationships between simulation inputs and outputs towards better optimization. Our system incorporates interpretable machine learning as well as multiple linked visualizations to capture essential input-output relationships from complex WDS simulations. We demonstrate our system's effectiveness through a practical case study and evaluate its usability through expert reviews. Our results show that our system can lessen the burden of analysis and assist in determining optimal operating schemes. | Read Article | California Energy Commission (CEC) |
Assessing Data Adequacy for Determining Utility-Specific Water Loss Reduction Standards | Amanda Rupiper, MacKenzie S. Guilliams, Micaela M. Bush, Katrina K. Jessoe, and Frank J. Loge | Academic Journal | 2021 | Urban water retailers in California reported on average 7.12% of their total water delivery in 2017 as real water losses within their distribution systems. Regulators have proposed setting an economic water loss reduction standard that are individually tailored based on utility-specific data to address this issue. Based on an analysis of utility data sets available to regulators, researchers have found that given the state of data, the resulting standards may not be representative of individual utilities and that the annual data variability may be greater than a proposed reduction. | Read Article | |
Estimating Agricultural Groundwater Withdrawals with Energy Data | Jonathan Martindill, Robert Good, and Frank Loge | Academic Journal | 2021 | Agricultural water use is the leading cause of groundwater overdraft in California. However, agencies tasked with managing groundwater resources do not have access to accurate and reliable measurements of groundwater extraction. Previous studies identified a relationship between pump energy consumption and groundwater extraction and indicated that the efficiency lift method (ELM) can produce reliable estimates of groundwater extraction if based on reliable data. Recent advances in the availability of electricity and pump operating condition data have made the ELM viable for estimating large-scale groundwater extraction. | Read Article | California Department of Water Resources (DWR) |
Load shifting at wastewater treatment plants: A case study for participating as an energy demand resource | Erin Musabandesu, Frank Loge | Academic Journal | 2020 | Energy load shifting can allow for increased renewable energy integration and reduced greenhouse gas intensity of the electricity grid. Recent research has demonstrated that wastewater treatment plants have considerable potential to shift energy loads and act as energy demand resources due to their energetic flexibility and energy production capacity. This paper investigates a wastewater treatment plant in Santa Rosa, California, participating as a demand resource on the wholesale energy market through the proxy demand resource program. | Download (Paywall) | |
The cost-effectiveness of energy savings through water conservation: a utility-scale assessment | Edward Spang, Soraya Manzor, Frank Loge | Academic Journal | 2020 | In a previous study, the energy savings linked to a statewide water conservation mandate in California were found comparable in both resource savings as well as cost-effectiveness to the energy savings achieved directly through energy efficiency programs. This study pursues a similar line of inquiry, but at the scale of an individual city as opposed to a statewide assessment. | Download | LAWDP |
Spillovers from Behavioral Interventions: Experimental Evidence from Water and Energy Use | Katrina Jessoe, Gabriel Lade, Frank Loge, Edward Spang | Academic Journal | 2020 | This paper provides experimental evidence that behavioral interventions spill over to untreated sectors by altering consumer choice. | Download (Paywall) | |
Water-energy-food security: A Nexus perspective of the current situation in Latin America and the Caribbean | Jürgen Mahlknecht, Ramón González-Bravo, Frank Loge | Academic Journal | 2020 | To attain sustainable development in Latin Ameica and the Caribbean, where there is a strong dependence on commodity and food price development, priority attention towards energy, water, and food security is critical. In this literature and data analysis, we examined the baseline and trends of resource security based on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus concept. | Download (Paywall) | Tecnologico de Monterrey |
Beyond 100 % renewable: Policy and practical pathways to 24/7 renewable energy procurement | Gregory Miller | Academic Journal | 2019 | Corporations are increasingly shaping the future of the electric grid by pursuing 100 % renewable energy goals that seek to match their annual energy consumption with an equal volume of renewable energy. The challenge of achieving a 100 % renewable electricity grid, however, is not only a question of how much renewable energy is built, but rather whether renewables can supply electricity when it is needed. | Download (Paywall) | |
Barriers Preventing Growth of Onsite Water Reuse in California | Amanda Rupiper, Frank Loge, Halona Leung, Leslie Crenna | Research Brief | 2019 | Using alternate water sources, such as rainwater or graywater, for onsite reuse has potential to offset potable water demands and reduce wastewater flows. Onsite water reuse has been allowable by California code for just over a decade, yet the proliferation of treated onsite water reuse systems has been sluggish due to challenges that have surfaced. | Download | California Energy Commission (CEC) |
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