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Performance evaluation and siting index of the stabilization ponds based on environmental parameters: a case study in Iran

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Abstract

Stabilization ponds are open pools that remove total suspended solids, organic matters, microbial and pathogenic agents using physical, chemical, and biological processes. If the stabilization ponds are not well designed, they can produce odors, breed many insects, increase suspended solids concentration in the effluent and pollute groundwater. Consideration of environmental factors is critical for operation and maintenance. In this study, first, information on wastewater treatment plants and meteorological parameters were collected, and simultaneously, specialists were selected to score the effect of environmental factors on stabilization pond efficiency. A geographic information system was used to sit for suitable locations for stabilization ponds. The results showed that 23.6 % of Iran’s treatment plants are stabilization ponds, which based on climate, evaporation, sunny hours, ice days, wind speed, and temperature parameters, 33.33 %, 37.3 %, 14 %, 50 %, 64 and 26 % of the stabilization ponds have obtained good points, respectively. The results also showed that 50 % of the stabilization ponds obtained an acceptable score considering all environmental parameters’ simultaneous effect. A preliminary study based on considering all the environmental parameters showed that the central and southern regions are the best areas for establishing waste stabilization ponds; in contrast, northern and northeastern regions can have high operation and maintenance costs with lower efficiency. This study has shown that setup and design of the new waste stabilization ponds in Iran need to take into account by considering environmental factors because these factors have the main effect on algae growth which are one of main biological treatment.

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Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by Elite Researcher Grant Committee under award number [982362] from the National Institutes for Medical Research Development (NIMAD), Tehran, Iran, and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Germany. We would like to thank Tehran Province Meteorological Administration and Iran Water and Wastewater Company for their collaboration to provide easy access to meteorological and wastewater data.

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by Elite Researcher Grant Committee under award number [982362] from the National Institutes for Medical Research Development (NIMAD), Tehran, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Rezvani Ghalhari, Esfandiar Ghordouei Milan, Somayeh Yousefi & Amir Hossein Mahvi

  2. Institute for Sanitary Engineering, University of Stuttgart, Water Quality, and Solid Waste Management (ISWA), Stuttgart, Germany

    Harald Schönberger & Behnam Askari Lasaki

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111, Isfahan, Iran

    Keyvan Asghari

  4. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Nayereh Rezaei Rahimi

  5. National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company, Ministry of Energy, Tehran, Iran

    Behnam Vakili

  6. Center for Solid Waste Research (CSWR), Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Amir Hossein Mahvi

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  1. Mohammad Rezvani Ghalhari
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  2. Harald Schönberger
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Correspondence to Amir Hossein Mahvi.

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 7 Covered population, capacity of sewage and discharge sewage input to Iran’s wastewater treatment plant
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Table 8 Operating parameters wastewater stabilization ponds based on Iranian standard
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Rezvani Ghalhari, M., Schönberger, H., Askari Lasaki, B. et al. Performance evaluation and siting index of the stabilization ponds based on environmental parameters: a case study in Iran. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 19, 1681–1700 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-021-00723-9

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