Exploring alternative water sources and improving the efficiency of energy uses are crucial approaches to strengthening the water-energy securities and achieving carbon mitigations in sub(tropical) coastal cities. Seawater use for toilet flushing and district cooling systems is reportedly practical for achieving multiaspect benefits in Hong Kong. However, the currently followed practices are yet to be systematically evaluated for scale expansions and system adaptation in other coastal cities. The significance of using seawater to enhance local water-energy securities and carbon mitigations in urban areas remains unknown. Herein, we developed a high-resolution scheme to quantify the effects of the large-scale urban use of seawater on a city’s reliance on non-local and non-natural water and energy supplies and its carbon mitigation goals. We applied the developed scheme in Hong Kong, Jeddah, and Miami to assess diverse climates and urban characteristics. The annual water and energy saving potentials were found to be 16-28% and 3-11% of the annual freshwater and electricity consumption, respectively. Life cycle carbon mitigations were accomplished in the compact cities of Hong Kong and Miami (2.3 and 4.6% of the cities’ mitigation goals, respectively) but not in a sprawled city like Jeddah. Moreover, our results suggest that district-level decisions could result in optimal outcomes supporting seawater use in urban areas.

Recently, the Sulfate reduction Autotrophic denitrification Nitrification Integrated (SANI^®) process was developed for the removal of organics and nitrogen with sludge minimization in the treatment of saline sewage (with a Sulfate-to-COD ratio > 0.5 mg SO₄ ^2--S/mg COD) generated from seawater used for toilet flushing or salt water intrusion. Previously investigated in lab- and pilot-scale, this process has now been scaled up to a 800-1000 m³/d full-scale demonstration plant. In this paper, the design and operating parameters of the SANI demo plant built in Hong Kong are analyzed. After a 4-month start-up period, a stable sulfur cycle-based biological nitrogen removal system having a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12.5 h was developed, thereby reducing the amount of space needed by 30-40% compared with conventional activated sludge (CAS) plants in Hong Kong. The demo plant satisfactorily met the local effluent discharge limits during both the summer and winter periods. In winter (sewage temperature of 21 ± 1 °C), the maximum volumetric loading rates for organic conversion, nitrification, and denitrification were 2 kg COD/(m³·d), 0.39 kg N/(m³·d), and 0.35 kg N/(m³·d), respectively. The biological sludge production rate of SANI process was 0.35 ± 0.08 g TSS_produced/g BOD₅ (or 0.19 ± 0.05 g TSS/g COD), which is 60-70% lower than that of the CAS process in Hong Kong. While further process optimization is possible, this study demonstrates the SANI process can be potentially implemented for the treatment of saline sewage.

Global water security is a severe issue that threatens human health and well-being. Finding sustainable alternative water resources has become a matter of great urgency. For coastal urban areas, desalinated seawater could serve as a freshwater supply. However, since 20%–30% of the water supply is used for flushing waste from the city, seawater with simple treatment could also partly replace the use of freshwater. In this work, the freshwater saving potential and environmental impacts of the urban water system (water-wastewater closed loop) adopting seawater desalination, seawater for toilet flushing (SWTF), or reclaimed water for toilet flushing (RWTF) are compared with those of a conventional freshwater system, through a life-cycle assessment and sensitivity analysis. The potential applications of these processes are also assessed. The results support the environmental sustainability of the SWTF approach, but its potential application depends on the coastal distance and effective population density of a city. Developed coastal cities with an effective population density exceeding 3000 persons·km⁻² and located less than 30 km from the seashore (for the main pipe supplying seawater to the city) would benefit from applying SWTF, regardless of other impact parameters. By further applying the sulfate reduction, autotrophic denitrification, and nitrification integrated (SANI) process for wastewater treatment, the maximum distance from the seashore can be extended to 60 km. Considering that most modern urbanized cities fulfill these criteria, the next generation of water supply systems could consist of a freshwater supply coupled with a seawater supply for sustainable urban development.