Sewer Methane Methods for Everyone

The overarching objective of Sewer Methane Methods for Everyone is to allow all entities to estimate their collection system (sewer) methane (CH4) using any of three (or possibly four) new methodologies of progressively increasing accuracy and local-infrastructure specificity—but also requiring increased data, available tools, and effort. This project builds on prior WRF research and compiles CH4 production estimates from over 40 sewer sheds of varying climate, size, configurations, and operation, thereby dramatically enhancing our knowledge of this hard-to-measure greenhouse gas (GHG) source. Finally, this research will close the largest gap in water resource recovery (WRR) utilities’ GHG inventories: Sewer-CH4 is likely the industry’s most significant direct GHG emissions source, and yet continues to be omitted almost from all utility and local government tracking and reporting.