Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa

There is an urgent need to expand wastewater treatment on the African continent. To help choose appropriate technologies for this task, we evaluated the efficiency, energy and chemical demands, and costs of four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). These plants represent the main wastewater treatmen...

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Main Authors: Haileselassie, M. M., Mohamed, J., Haile, Alemseged Tamiru, Hiruy, A. M., Acharya, K., Werner, D.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: IWA Publishing 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173467
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author Haileselassie, M. M.
Mohamed, J.
Haile, Alemseged Tamiru
Hiruy, A. M.
Acharya, K.
Werner, D.
author_browse Acharya, K.
Haile, Alemseged Tamiru
Haileselassie, M. M.
Hiruy, A. M.
Mohamed, J.
Werner, D.
author_facet Haileselassie, M. M.
Mohamed, J.
Haile, Alemseged Tamiru
Hiruy, A. M.
Acharya, K.
Werner, D.
author_sort Haileselassie, M. M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description There is an urgent need to expand wastewater treatment on the African continent. To help choose appropriate technologies for this task, we evaluated the efficiency, energy and chemical demands, and costs of four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). These plants represent the main wastewater treatment technologies operated by the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA): waste stabilization pond (WSP), anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR), up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket with trickling filter (UASB-TF), and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies. Principal component analysis revealed that season significantly impacts the raw and treated wastewater quality (ANOSIM, R ¼ 0.3126, p ¼ 0.001), while the type of treatment plant did not significantly affect the measured effluent characteristics (ANOSIM, R ¼ 0.1235, p ¼ 0.2000). In contrast, construction and operational costs, as well as energy and chemical demands per m3 of treated wastewater, varied starkly between the WWTPs. Total costs of wastewater treatment in 2022 ranged from $0.045 to 0.546 per m3 of wastewater treated, being 6–12 times higher for MBR compared with the other WWTP technologies. Real-world performance data as reported in this study are essential for choosing appropriate technologies that meet Africa’s wastewater treatment needs.
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spelling CGSpace1734672025-12-08T10:11:39Z Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa Haileselassie, M. M. Mohamed, J. Haile, Alemseged Tamiru Hiruy, A. M. Acharya, K. Werner, D. wastewater treatment plants performance assessment economic analysis energy demand technology sanitation sustainability water quality costs infrastructure There is an urgent need to expand wastewater treatment on the African continent. To help choose appropriate technologies for this task, we evaluated the efficiency, energy and chemical demands, and costs of four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). These plants represent the main wastewater treatment technologies operated by the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA): waste stabilization pond (WSP), anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR), up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket with trickling filter (UASB-TF), and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies. Principal component analysis revealed that season significantly impacts the raw and treated wastewater quality (ANOSIM, R ¼ 0.3126, p ¼ 0.001), while the type of treatment plant did not significantly affect the measured effluent characteristics (ANOSIM, R ¼ 0.1235, p ¼ 0.2000). In contrast, construction and operational costs, as well as energy and chemical demands per m3 of treated wastewater, varied starkly between the WWTPs. Total costs of wastewater treatment in 2022 ranged from $0.045 to 0.546 per m3 of wastewater treated, being 6–12 times higher for MBR compared with the other WWTP technologies. Real-world performance data as reported in this study are essential for choosing appropriate technologies that meet Africa’s wastewater treatment needs. 2025-02-01 2025-03-03T07:18:39Z 2025-03-03T07:18:39Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173467 en Open Access IWA Publishing Haileselassie, M. M.; Mohamed, J.; Haile, Alemseged Tamiru; Hiruy, A. M.; Acharya, K.; Werner, D. 2025. Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 15(2):127-138. [doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2025.093]
spellingShingle wastewater treatment plants
performance assessment
economic analysis
energy demand
technology
sanitation
sustainability
water quality
costs
infrastructure
Haileselassie, M. M.
Mohamed, J.
Haile, Alemseged Tamiru
Hiruy, A. M.
Acharya, K.
Werner, D.
Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa
title Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa
title_full Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa
title_fullStr Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa
title_full_unstemmed Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa
title_short Performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa
title_sort performance of four wastewater treatment plants serving ethiopia s capital city addis ababa
topic wastewater treatment plants
performance assessment
economic analysis
energy demand
technology
sanitation
sustainability
water quality
costs
infrastructure
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173467
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