PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR THE EVALUATION OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS IN A SEWAGE BASIN IN FORTALEZA, CEARÁ, BRAZIL

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plant are considered punctual sources of pollution, which may compromise the receiving water bodies. The effective and efficient performance of WWTPs contributes to the sustainable management of water resources. In this study, the most relevant performance indicators (PIs) for evaluating the performance of WWTPs in a sewage basin in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, were selected and analyzed based on expert opinions. The answers obtained through the Delphi method were used to define the weights of the PIs, using the AHP method. Of the 18 selected PIs, the following stand out: “Removal of polluting load from affluent sewage at the treatment plant”, “Conformity of analyzes of treated sewage for total suspended solids” and “Compliance of analyzes of treated sewage for BOD”. Then, the global performances of 3 WWTPs in the study area were determined by the TOPSIS-Sort multicriteria method. The WWTPs Aldemir Martins and José Euclides obtained “Unsatisfactory” performance, while the WWTP Castelão obtained “Satisfactory”. It’s expected that the PIs structured in this study will be used by the actors involved in the decision-making process, as well as the methodology developed can be applied in other studies, considering their characteristics and local conditions.