This document discusses the marketability and reuse of treated wastewater from Alexandria Sanitary Drainage Company's (ASDCO) wastewater treatment plants. It notes challenges like the distance between treatment plants and potential reuse areas. It details a pilot project with ASDCO and Alex West Housing Compound to reuse 4,000 cubic meters per day of treated wastewater for irrigation. The document also outlines options for agricultural and urban reuse of treated wastewater from various ASDCO treatment plants and proposes a public awareness project using an educational maquette and demonstration plots to showcase safe reuse.

1. The Marketability of Wastewater Reuse in Alexandria Sanitary Drainage Company
Dr. Helaley A. H. Helaley 1, Dr. Samaa M. Z. Abdel Aziz 2, Acc. Islam F.T. Okka3
1
Chief of Industrial Drainage, Sludge and Reuse Sector, 2 Manager of Industrial Wastewater Research Dept., 3 Manager of Development and Technical office Depts.,
Alexandria Sanitary Drainage Company, Alexandria, Egypt.
ABSTRACT
One of the main challenges that faces
Alexandria city is the shortage of water
resources especially in the west zone of the
city. So the use of treated wastewater is
one of the solutions to solve this problem as
well as the financial resources problem.
Therefore it was necessary to use
innovative
marketing
techniques
to
overcome the problems of safe wastewater
reuse and over come the challenges that
face the application of this concept.
One of the problems is that the location
of the wastewater treatment plants exists
so far from the areas that will be used in.
Another problem is marketing issues, such
as 1) The bad reputation of the wastewater
and how you can convent the client to use
it, 2) The public awareness to the citizens of
Alexandria city that they can use this water
safely in the fields which mentioned in the
Egyptian code, 3) Psychological factors that
make the people don’t be convinced to use
this water and in the same time they know
that this water is safe to use but they prefer
to don’t use it, 4) There are no motives to
make people use this water, and the most
important motive for the client to make him
use this water is the price and we are trying
to make a challenging price which to motive
him to use this water.
Alexandria Sanitary Drainage Company
(ASDCO) has about 16 secondary
wastewater treatment plants producing
about 1.6 million m3 per day of treated
effluent. We made the first step in this
project which is selling the treated
wastewater that is the output of the kilo 26
secondary treatment plant to Alex West
Housing
Compound
for
irrigating
landscapes.
INTRODUCTION
The term wastewater reuse is often used synonymously
with the terms wastewater recycling and wastewater
reclamation. The most common reason for establishing a
wastewater reuse program is to identify new water
resources for increased water demand and to find
economical ways to meet increasingly more stringent
discharge standards.
The Use of treated wastewater is an attractive option as 1)
the quantity generated will rise with population and
increased industrial activity; 2) Treated wastewater could
be substituted in applications such as potential nonagricultural uses; 3) For agriculture, it can be mixed with
fresh water, thereby economizing on the use of the latter;
4) The nutrients in reclaimed water reduce the need for
applying chemical fertilizers; 5) It can serve as an
environmentally superior alternative to disposing of
wastewater in the sea or other water bodies.
However, there are risks requiring that the quality of
treated wastewater will be taken into account in deciding
appropriate uses. It is important to allow safe and
economically responsible reuse of Alexandria treated
wastewater in order to make the best use of the existing
resources and to protect the environment and human
health. Wastewater reuse can reduce Lake Maryout
deterioration, while minimizing the amount of wastewater
discharged to the aqueous environment of the lake.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
2.1 A survey was done to search for facilities or areas that
could possibly use treated effluent from Alexandria
wastewater treatment plants in any possible activities.
2.2 Survey of the wastewater treatment plants of ASDCO,
their capacities and the areas around each treatment plant
that could be considered for reuse.
2.3 Proposing a pilot project to raise the public awareness
of the young and adults about the idea of sanitation and
wastewater treatment stages.
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
3.1 Effluent demand:
3.1.1 Industrial demand:
According to our search no industries are willing to consider using
treated effluent from Alexandria wastewater treatment plants due to
the concern about the safety of using this effluent and the risk of
loosing their market.
3.1.2 Urban demand:
Only urban areas located outside Alexandria especially in arid zones
can use treated effluent in irrigating green yards (this is mainly due to
the shortage of water resources allover the year). Example: ASDCO
contract with Alex West Housing compound to receive treated
wastewater from the km 26 wastewater secondary treatment plant
(4000 m3/d) to be reused in irrigating the green areas all around the
compound. Figure (1) shows Alex West compound using treated
wastewater in irrigation.
3.1.3 Agricultural demand:
The feasibility of treated wastewater reuse for irrigation will largely
depend on Type of treatment and of industrial pollutants; Availability
of suitable areas for irrigation; Irrigation methods and soil types;
Cropping pattern; Matching supply and demand; Environmental
impacts and Costs. The current needs for all purposes at Alexandria
are fulfilled from the available resources. The required demand will
increase by 2017 to approx. 3 million m3 which should be provided
from non-regular resources like reuse of treated wastewater .
3.3 Reuse options of Alexandria WWTPs effluent:
3.3.1 Effluent form East treatment plant
3.3.2 Effluent form west treatment plant
3.3.3 Effluents form small WWTPs :
3.3.3.1 El-Agamy (km 21) WWTP
3.3.3.2 Borg Al-Arab WWTP.
3.3.3.3 El-Maamora, El-Seiouf and Abis WWTPs
3.4 Proposed public awareness Pilot Project:
To raise the public awareness of the young and adults about the idea
of sanitation and wastewater treatment stages. It consists of 2 parts
3.4.1 Educational part:
To construct a Maquette demonstrating the journey of wastewater
starting from houses entering the public sewerage network and
ending with arrival of the sludge to site 9N to be treated and the
treated effluent reaching an agricultural land where it is used in
irrigation. Figure (3) presents a similar pilot project.
3.4.2 Field part:
This part requires allocating a piece of land, divided into three parts.
1st ) constructed with a greenhouse for planting some ornamental
plants, figure (4), 2nd ) grown with artificial grass, 3rd ) planted with
types of rare palm trees that have fast economic return. These 3
parts will be irrigated using treated wastewater and fertilized by
composted sludge as an organic fertilizer produced out of
wastewater.
A laboratory will be built near this area to provide periodic analysis
of both soils and plants to determine the effect and long term effect
on using both treated wastewater and treated sludge, and the validity
for reuse.
This situation could change under the case if there would be a
decrease in Alexandria’s share of water resources. Thus, it would be
worth to reuse all treated wastewater in irrigation within Alexandria.
3.2 Cultivation Options:
The substitution of domestically produced wood instead of
imported wood in industry improves the balance of payments and
reduces inflation. The Egyptian code 501/2005 discusses the
possibilities of using treated wastewater in agriculture that could help
in increasing income.
CONCLUSIONS
The plan for marketing this treated effluent could be applied as the
system (contract) already used between ASDCO and Alex West
housing compound. The contract states that the client (Alex West)
receives 4000 m3/day of treated effluent with a price of 0.25 + 10%
annual increase (the current price reached 0.33 L.E/m3 at 2011) and
the conveyance system is constructed by the client and on his own
expenses. This price 0.33 L.E/m3 is feasible for investment to any
client along the North coast as the current price of turbid water
currently reaching these areas is 0.65 L.E/m3 and with lower qualities
than the treated effluent.
REFERENCES
Figure 3. Maquette showing the
wastewater treatment process.
CONT ACT
Dr. Helaley Abdel Hady Helaley
Alexandria Sanitary Drainage Company.
drhelalley@yahoo.com
01005201367- 01229388878
Figure 1. Alex West Housing compound receiving treated
wastewater for irrigation.
Figure 2. Proposal for marketing effluent of Hanoville,
Amriya and Agamy WWTPs.
Figure 4. Greenhouse using treated
wastewater irrigation system.
1- Egyptian code for re-use 501 of 2005.
2- Maximizing the use of treated sanitary wastewater in agriculture, Professor
Dr.Nabil Fathi Mr. Kandil, Research Institute of Land and Water and the
Environment-Agricultural Research Center.
3- Environment Law No. (4) for the year 1994.
4- Wastewater reuse conserves water and protect water ways By Caigan
McKenzie • NESC Staff Writer.
5- European Union Water Initiative (EUWI) Dialogues, Egyptian Dialogue on
National Planning for Wastewater Reuse
6- Integrated water resource management 2 , Feasibility of wastewater reuse
Report no.14, Russell Misheloff, IRG Principal, IWRM II Project Manager,
Senior Economist