Water to Air Models: Urban and Agricultural Frameworks for Quantifying Energy and Air Quality

Published: October 2004
Author: Gary Wolff, Sanjay Gaur, Maggie Winslow

To give water managers a betterĀ understanding of the relationship between water managementĀ decisions, energy consumption, and air quality the PacificĀ Institute has created two Water to Air Models. One modelĀ is for urban water districts and the other for agriculturalĀ districts. The models provide a flexible but consistentĀ framework for quantifying the energy and air quality dimensionsĀ of water management decisions.

Both models are available for download withoutĀ charge as Excel documents:

UrbanĀ Water to Air Model (2.6 MB Excel file)

AgriculturalĀ Water to Air Model (2.7 MB Excel file)

The User Manual that explains how to use themĀ is available in fullĀ resolution (3 MB PDF) or lowĀ resolution (500 KB PDF).

Previous Work

One of the conclusions of “EnergyĀ Down the Drain” was that energy use in urban waterĀ management in California is even more significant than previouslyĀ recognized, primarily because energy used during customerĀ use of water (e.g., for heating water) is often at leastĀ as large as energy used to extract, transport, treat, distribute,Ā collect, and dispose of water and wastewater properly.

Future Model Versions

The Pacific Institute hopes that these modelsĀ will be widely used as the discussion about water and energyĀ management in California grows. The models, however, likeĀ all models, have limitations. Some are discussed in theĀ users manual. Others will become clear as the models areĀ used. Please feel free to contactĀ us with suggestions about how future versions of theĀ models could be made more useful.

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