Sustainable Improvements for Jenin Wastewater Treatment Plant

Jenin wastewater treatment plant is one of the five largest wastewater treatment plants in the West Bank. It consists mainly of aerated lagoons with surface aerators and polishing ponds. The objective of this research is to evaluate the performance of Jenin WWTP (J-WWTP); in order to investigate sustainable options to improve the quality of effluent to a level suitable for irrigation. The evaluation is come out through collecting composite and grab samples from different locations of the plant and analyzing them in the laboratory for physical, chemical and biological parameters. The results of the samples showed that Jenin raw wastewater is characterized as high strength with high concentration of BOD, COD, TSS and nutrients. GPS-X program was used to simulate the plant treatment processes, the results of the samples were used for building the model and for calibration. Once the model was calibrated, studies for different scenarios were conducted. J-WWTP can treat BOD and COD efficiently, but less efficiency was achieved for removing TSS due to improper operation of the surface aerators. By improving of the management of the aeration in the lagoons; more influent can be treated (about 4300m3/d), but within the few years and due to the increase in the number of population in Jenin governate, more wastewater will be generated, so the plant will be overloaded and upgrading is needed. This upgrade can be done by using Floating Baffle system, a combination between the existing plant with Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) or Activated sludge (AS), or by complete replacement of the plant with alternatives like waste stabilization ponds (WSP), integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) or a combination between Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket and Activated sludge. Using UASB at the beginning of the plant is considered as a sustainable way to upgrade the existing plant; it has high efficiency in removing BOD, COD, TSS and nitrate with low capital, maintenance and operation costs and it produces small amount of sludge. Key words: sustainable development, GPS-X modeling, AL, UASB, WSP.