Assessment and Application of Low Cost Technologies for Rural Sanitation in Egypt

Abstract

Too many wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) systems are implemented, but most appropriate system is missing in some locations. This paper aims to assess treatment technologies implemented in rural communities in both Lower and Upper Egypt. The assessment has focused on aerobic treatment, anaerobic treatment and natural treatment technologies and was based on studying plant performance; plant economic parameters including capital investment, operation and maintenance costs, total cost per m3 of wastewater, collected fees per m3 of wastewater; and compliance with laws and regulations. The result of the study showed that the activated sludge (AS) system is the most commonly used WWTP in Egypt (53%) including conventional (CO) and extended aeration (EX) technologies. These systems are mainly concentrated in Lower Egypt. This is followed by waste stabilization pond (15.7%) concentrated in Upper Egypt.The activated sludge (AS), the rotating biological contactors (RBC), the oxidation ditch (OX), and sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technologies proved to have the highest performance for the percentage removal of BOD5, COD and TSS. Technologies such as oxidation ditch (OX) and aerated lagoon (AL) proved to have full operation and consumables cost recovery. Technologies such as SBR, RBC, and AS exhibited high operation and consumables costs due to high energy requirements. The AL, RBC and EX plants showed the lowest total cost. From the results a matrix was formed for technical and economic data characterizing all investigated WWTP technologies. Therefore, the main parameters in selecting the most appropriate WWTP(s) technology for a village should consider its performance, and the total cost for the full life-cycle including capital and operation costs. Key Words: Wastewater treatment; performance analyses; economic analyses; ranking of wastewater technologies in Egypt. Who Are These Supervisors Supervisors: Prof. Dr. FIKRY HALIM GHOBRIAL Prof. Dr. MAHMOUD MOHAMED ABD ELAZEEM Dr. NANY ALY HASSAN NASR