Study on the Choice of Wastewater Treatment Process Based on the Emergy Theory

With the increase in industrialization and urbanization, water pollution has become increasingly serious, and wastewater treatment has become a common step in preventing this. For a greater understanding of the sustainability of different wastewater treatment systems, two processes, Anaerobic Baffled Reactor + Anaerobic-Anoxic-Oxic and Anaerobic Baffled Reactor + Cyclic Activated Sludge System, were selected, and their sustainability was evaluated based on three indicators, namely emergy yield ratio, environmental load rate, and emergy sustainability development index, according to emergy theory. The results show that the emergy yield ratio and environmental load rate of the ABR + CASS process were lower than those of the ABR + A2/O process, and the emergy sustainability development index of the ABR + CASS process was higher than that of the ABR + A2/O process, showing better sustainability. The research methods and findings of this study play an important role for decision makers in selecting sustainable wastewater treatment processes.