Published: October 2004
Author: Gary Wolff, Sanjay Gaur, Maggie Winslow
To give water managers a better understanding of the relationship between water management decisions, energy consumption, and air quality the Pacific Institute has created two Water to Air Models. One model is for urban water districts and the other for agricultural districts. The models provide a flexible but consistent framework for quantifying the energy and air quality dimensions of water management decisions.
Both models are available for download without charge as Excel documents:
Urban Water to Air Model (2.6 MB Excel file)
Agricultural Water to Air Model (2.7 MB Excel file)
The User Manual that explains how to use them is available in full resolution (3 MB PDF) or low resolution (500 KB PDF).
Previous Work
One of the conclusions of “Energy Down the Drain” was that energy use in urban water management in California is even more significant than previously recognized, primarily because energy used during customer use of water (e.g., for heating water) is often at least as large as energy used to extract, transport, treat, distribute, collect, and dispose of water and wastewater properly.
Future Model Versions
The Pacific Institute hopes that these models will be widely used as the discussion about water and energy management in California grows. The models, however, like all models, have limitations. Some are discussed in the users manual. Others will become clear as the models are used. Please feel free to contact us with suggestions about how future versions of the models could be made more useful.