Development of Performance Indicators for Evaluation of Wastewater Treatment Plants Operation

Typically, management and operation of wastewater treatment plants are based on comparison of the effluent quality with the defined standard values. Under this approach, only after the occurrence of a failure, the problem in system performance is recognized. In the present study, a new methodology is proposed to predict the wastewater treatment plant performance as well as its units, based on the inflow characteristics. For this purpose, first, the wastewater treatment plant simulation model is developed. After that, the relative importance of each inflow characteristic on the performance of the system is evaluated. Then, performance indicators are defined. In the present study, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) removal efficiency have been used for this purpose. This process reduces the costs and risks of the system failure. The proposed methodology in this study was implemented on a real case study. The selected indices well response to the inflow variables (such as flow and SS). As a result, it is possible to estimate and check the total and unit performance of wastewater treatment plant with acceptable accuracy. Finally, it can be used effectively to adopt preventive policies for improving the performance of wastewater treatment plants and risk management.