The Huge financial requirements to cover the Egyptian countryside with wastewater collection and treatment systems is becoming a real problem where extensive discussions
are going and decentralized solutions might be considered as one of the preferable alternatives. A case study to assess and enhance the performance of compact wastewater
treatment plants as one of the decentralized applications is presented in this study. Re use of treated effluent and its compatibility to the national and international regulation was also
assisted. Samples were collected from the different treatment stages of a compact wastewater treatment plant serving a country side area adjacent to Cairo, Egypt. The early
results of the samples analyses showed sever deterioration of the plant performance consequently the effluent quality. Immediate rehabilitation was recommended and carried out where results of analyses showed great improvement where removal efficiency of
BOD, COD, and TSS reached up to 85%, 86%, and 86% respectively. The effluent quality after rehabilitation met the limits of the Egyptian Code for treated wastewater reuse and the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) limits as well. Effluent quality was safe enough to be reused in watering the surrounding green landscape of the neighborhood area. The study shows the importance of the continuous monitoring of the operation and maintenance of the compact wastewater treatment plants as well as dealing with the intermittent influent flows. |
