Water Cycle or Water Use Cycle
The movement of water from its source through to conveyance, treatment, distribution, end-use, discharge, re-treatment, re-use and ultimate discharge.
Water-Energy Nexus
Water-Energy Nexus
The interdependencies among water and energy resources and infrastructure.
Marginal Cost
The cost to produce the next increment of a product or service. When used in water and energy resource planning, it is typically expressed as the incremental cost in $/unit to produce and/or deliver the next (marginal) resource, whether a gallon of water supply, a kilowatt or kilowatt-hour of electricity, or a therm of natural …
Marginal Supply
The last unit of supply needed to meet demand for a product or service. On a short‐run basis, the marginal supply is typically the last unit of resource – whether a water supply resource, a kilowatt hour, or a therm – used to meet demand. On a long‐run basis, the marginal supply is typically the …
Embedded Energy in Water
The sum of energy inputs along the segments of the water use cycle: to collect, produce, transport, treat and deliver water, and to collect, treat and dispose of wastewater.
Energy Intensity
The average amount of energy used to collect, produce, transport, treat, deliver and/or to collect, treat, and/or dispose of wastewater (typically expressed in kWh/AF or kWh/MG).