MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS APPROACH FOR SELECTION OF THE MOST APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT

The wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) tend to have relatively high investment and operational cost, with energy demanding processes. Selection of the most appropriate treatment technology is of highest importance during the planning of this kind of long-term investment. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the treatment process selection, as a guiding tool for selecting the most appropriate treatment technology for any case scenario. The paper presents a methodology that follows the algorithm of the process of planning and selection, taking into account input data, climate and environmental local conditions. If multiple technologies qualify for certain case, comparative techno-economic analysis with Net present value (NPV) is calculated in order to justify which of them would be the economically most advantageous option. Finally, multi-criteria analysis is applied for their evaluation and ranking. The methodology was tested on planning and design process for the WWTP Blace, Serbia. Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with chemical phosphorus removal and additional sludge stabilisation was selected as most appropriate process having lowest investment, operation and maintenance cost, as well as highest score on the non-monetary multi criteria analysis.