An inventory study for municipal sludge production in Agean Region-Turkey

Recently, more disciplined studies are carried out in domestic waste water treatment in Turkey. To date, the chosen method that is applied to several projects was leading to problems during implementation because of the factors such as costs, climate conditions, operating problems. The modern plants built in parallel with developing technology and science, the applied projects have showed more successful results.The vast amounts of sewage sludge have been produced at municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The management of the sludges is a great challenge because produced sludge amounts to only a few percent by volume of the processed wastewater, but its handling accounts for up to fifty percent of total operating costs.Although, many countries estimate their sludge production based on some criteria like wastewater characterization, wastewater collection systems, applied wastewater treatment technologies, etc., it is very limited to find a full inventory for the production, sludge processing and disposal during the municipal/domestic wastewater treatment. These kinds of inventory studies are required to be providing a sustainable sludge management.In this thesis, the major municipal/domestic wastewater treatment plants were examined in the Aegean Region selected as pilot area, and the questionnaire in the Appendices of the thesis have been filled out by technical personnel, who are responsible for the plant operations, and the status of existing plants have been discussed according to the results of the inventory.The wastewater treatment plants in Aegean region, which are located in the province of Muğla, have been mainly studied since the plants have changing flow-density depending on the touristic activities. The examined plants have been visited and compared with the other plants. The periodic observations of the municipal wastewater treatment plants have been done including summer and winter sessions.In this thesis, the major municipal/domestic wastewater treatment plants in Aegean Region of Turkey, were examined based on an inventory study. The survey results have showed that although many practical applications are in progress for the sludge processing as well as the wastewater treatment, the information on the sludge production is very limited.