Each year, U.S. wastewater treatment plants clean trillions of gallons of water, from what we flush down the toilet to drain down the sink.
Each year, U.S. wastewater treatment plants clean trillions of gallons of water, from what we flush down the toilet to drain down the sink.
In a new study, a team led by researchers from Northwestern University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign analyzed data from more than 15,000 wastewater treatment facilities to understand the climate costs hidden within all this cleaning.
The study, published in the journal Nature Water, estimates that U.S. wastewater treatment plants emit the equivalent of approximately 47 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year. Of these emissions, two greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, play a larger role than previously understood, exceeding current government estimates by 41%.
Read more at: Northwestern University
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