Introduction and Assessment of a New Effluents Usage Method

The increase in water demand, in different aspects of water usages, has highlighted the importance of treated wastewater as new water resources. The main aim of the current paper is to present a new method to specify the best effluents applications, involving fuzzy and entropy approaches, based on the effluents’ characteristics. To achieve this goal, the effluents characteristics of Arak city wastewater plant, from 2013 to 2017, were used. Also six possible consumption options were determined and considered. Following by that the appropriate parameters were selected and the best options were chosen, involving the new derived indices. The mentioned indices are named the Fuzzy Effluents Quality Index (FEQI) and the Entropy Effluents Quality Index (EEQI). The results indicate that not only the proposed indices are sensitive to the input parameters but they also classify the effluents correctly. Moreover, results illustrated that the quality of Arak effluents, in last 5 years, have been improved. As in the last year, according to the new indices the effluents can be used in industrial, environmental, fodder production, cooked vegetables, oil seed production, and artificial groundwater recharge systems.