Performance Evaluation of Small-Scale Solar Powered Wastewater and Grey Water Treatment Systems

Abstract

Onsite wastewater treatment systems are the most economical way of dealing with used water in an isolated environment. And because of the variability normally associated with the operation of these systems is linked to either varying hydraulic loading or the nature of the environment in which the system was installed, the performance of these systems needs to be evaluated to find out the optimum operating condition. In this work, the performance of two small-scale treatment systems used for wastewater and gray water was evaluated. This was done by comparing the measure of some physical, chemical and biological parameters in the effluent to the standards of effluent discharge sets by Dubai Municipality. The performance was also measured from other angles using the proposed Swedish Water and Wastewater Association performance indicators so as to give the analysis a wider coverage of economic and energy consumption. The result shows that the performance of the installed solar-powered treatment systems was enough to meet the requirements set by Dubai municipality for effluent discharge except for Ammonia-Nitrogen. Also, the deployment of solar power energy supply, coupled with a low energy usage of the two systems, has made this particular setting an environmentally sustainable setting for such an isolated site.