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Fuzzy-based wastewater quality indices for pollution classification: a case study in the United Arab Emirates

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Abstract

This paper presents a fuzzy logic-based tool for assessing the pollution concentration of effluents generated by various industrial and commercial activities. The study proposes a fuzzy overall pollution compliance index (FOPCI) (range 0–100) to classify the wastewater discharged from various types of properties present in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. The work mainly focused on three types of pollution that can occur at the inlets of the wastewater treatment plant of Ajman, due to discharge of industrial and commercial effluents, namely pH pollution, salt pollution, and organic pollution. The proposed FOPCI integrates six characteristics, namely pH, Cl−, SO4 2−, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and fats, oils, and greases (FOG) values into a readily understandable scale. The FOPCI is developed by using the Fuzzy Inference System Toolbox available in MATLAB in two steps, in which during the first step, three sub-indices, namely fuzzy pH compliance index, fuzzy salt compliance index, and fuzzy organic compliance index are developed. It is then processed in the second stage to develop the FOPCI. Fuzzy rules are used to classify effluents quality into six categories based on the concentration of pollutant in the effluent, namely “Excellent Quality”, “Good Quality”, “Acceptable Quality”, “Moderately Polluting”, “Highly Polluting”, and “Extremely Polluting”. This linguistic classification using fuzzy logic will be helpful as a decision support system to provide an outline for the prioritization of plans for wastewater management based on the values of the indices developed.

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Acknowledgement

The authors express their sincere thanks to the management of Moalajah FZC, Ajman for the support received during the research work. We also express our special thanks to Eng. Yasser Kayed (Environment Department, Ajman Municipality), Eng. Karthikesh Swami (Moalajah FZC), and Eng. Vipin Kumar (Moalajah FZC) for their valuable advice and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Mohamed Ibrahim Kizhisseri & Mohamed Mostafa Ahmed Mohamed

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  1. Mohamed Ibrahim Kizhisseri
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  2. Mohamed Mostafa Ahmed Mohamed
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Correspondence to Mohamed Mostafa Ahmed Mohamed.

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Kizhisseri, M.I., Mohamed, M.M.A. Fuzzy-based wastewater quality indices for pollution classification: a case study in the United Arab Emirates. Environ Syst Decis 36, 62–71 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-015-9579-9

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