Comparative analysis of wastewater treatment costs in Jordan and Tunisia

Abstract

The financial aspects reflecting the annual capital and operational expenditures play a key role in the sustainability of wastewater treatment facilities irrespective of the technology applied. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of wastewater treatment costs for 26 wastewater treatment plants in Jordan and Tunisia. The most frequently used systems for wastewater treatment in these countries are activated sludge systems with its modifications, trickling filters, and lagoons. Performance of the treatment technologies varies considerably from one treatment plant to another, even among those plants that fall within one category and employ basically similar processes in the same country. Nevertheless, the activated sludge systems and trickling filters seem overall superior to lagoons in terms of effluent quality, land requirement, and popularity, but at the expense of more equipment, personnel, maintenance, spare parts, and energy requirement. Comparison of the treatment costs (capital and operational) for the three systems shows that activated sludge systems are the most expensive followed by trickling filters. Lagoons are the cheapest, but if same effluent quality is required, upgrading and retrofitting make the operation and maintenance costs almost similar to that for the activated sludge and trickling filter systems. Lagoon systems seem to be less commendable unless land is available at a reasonable price and the envisaged planning objectives are clearly made.