SUSTAINABLE URBAN WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT: A PRIORITY AGENDA ITEM IN TURKEY Idil Arslan-Alaton, Aysegul Tanik, Suleyman Ovez, Gulen Iskender, Melike Gurel and Derin Orhon Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering, 34469 Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey

Introduction Water and wastewater management have to be considered in conjunction with each other Water and environment concerns are priority tasks for Turkey Turkey has already lost 1.3 million ha of wetland corresponding to three times the area of Van Lake in the last 40 years Turkey is going to be classified among the countries facing serious water shortage problems in the next decade Water capacity per person is 2020 m3 for Iraq, 3000 m3 in the average for Asia, but only 1430 m3 for Turkey.............

Main obstacles to overcome.... Lack of infrastructure and its proper maintenance Monitoring and control of existing water/wastewater treatment facilities Socio-cultural and economical limitations regarding water supply and wastewater reuse Lack of coordination between the national and local authorities Inefficient and insufficient systematic database for the sewer collection and treatment Problems related with scarce water sources, inappropriate and/or insufficient water and wastewater management facilities and strategies

Aim and Scope of the Study Reflecting the current situation of Turkish urban wastewater treatment plants (UWWTP’s) in terms of treatment efficiency and capacity actual population served type of treatment and discharge environment of the effluent nation-wide data collection through a survey accomplished by means of comprehensive questionnaires during December 2003-May 2006

Identification of the population served by UWWTPs The database for the realization of the EU-project was established by following a step-by-step survey given as; Identification of the population served by UWWTPs Presentation of the current technologies applied in the country’s UWWTP’s Qualitative and quantitative assessment of the current situation of Turkish UWWTP’s Prevailing effluent disposal criteria, methods and best practices Reuse potential of effluent received from UWWTP’s Elucidation of needs for upgrading UWWTP’s to comply with the current and future discharge criteria

Urban Wastewater Treatment Policies in Turkey The responsibility of constructing, operating and monitoring the sewage collection and treatment systems is given to the municipalities since 1930 The State Planning Organization (SPO) has decided to distribute clean drinking water to everybody, and collect and treat domestic wastewater everywhere in the country within the framework of the “International Drinking Water and Sanitation-Studies for the Next Decade-” that has been initiated in 1980 The law on “Municipalities Income” (dated 1981 and further revised in 1985) has brought the concept of constructing sewage treatment plants being financially supported by land and construction owners The major items of environmental health and pollution prevention has been referred and stated in the “Environment Constitution” dated 1983

Urban Wastewater Treatment Policies in Turkey The National WPCR published in 1988 dictates the receiving water standards for wastewater that are collected through sewage systems and treated either by means of dilution or through satisfactory treatment Till late 1990’s, the National Bank of Provinces has been in charge of realizing wastewater treatment plants within the framework of annual investment programmes according to instructions of the related municipalities Nowadays many associations (the Greater Metropolitan Municipalities, Water and Sewerage Administrations, the Ministry of Tourism, Southeast Anatolian Project Administration, the General Directorate of Special Protection Areas and the General Directorate of Massive Housing) deal with the investment of wastewater treatment plants by themselves

Urban Wastewater Treatment Policies in Turkey According to the 9th National Development Plan established for the period 2007-2013 by the SPO; 80% of the population benefits from sewer systems 47% is provided with wastewater treatment 93% of the total population is supplied with drinking water only 42% is being served by drinking water treatment facilities EU legislations will be adopted and applied reliable and integrated information systems will be established tracking, auditing and reporting infrastructure will be further developed.

Urban Wastewater Treatment Policies in Turkey In order to meet the requirements of Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC, the national wastewater directive for discharge of urban wastewater to the municipal sewage system has been recently published as an amended by-law on urban wastewater treatment in 2006. This legislation covers; the discharge of urban wastewater to receiving water bodies design, construction and collection of municipal sewage (with special emphasis on treatment principles that have to be applied according to the population equivalencies and sensitivity of the receiving water body)

Urban Wastewater Treatment Policies in Turkey Time frames have been allocated to construct and operate wastewater treatment plants and sewer collectors, as well as to meet the requirements of the amended by-law based on population equivalencies (PE’s) changing between less than 2,000 to more than 100,000 PE. Moreover, the national directive sets discharge limit values together with percent treatment efficiencies that have to be considered for secondary as well as tertiary treatment of urban wastewater. The country’s municipalities are obliged to satisfy the limit values or treatment efficiencies indicated for different discharge parameters according to PE’s; 25 mg/L for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) 125 mg/L for chemical oxygen demand (COD) 35 or 60 mg/L for total suspended solids (TSS) 70-90% for BOD5 75% for COD 90% or 70% for TSS

Urban Wastewater Management in Turkey There are currently 131 UWWTP’s operating in Turkey (Municipalities, 2003 and 2006); 67 are located in the 13 Greater Metropolitan Municipalities of the country 12 UWWTP’s are located in Istanbul (most crowded city of Turkey) 16 in Antalya (center of tourism along the Mediterranean Sea) 6 in Kocaeli (an industrialized province in the vicinity of Istanbul)

Population served by UWWTP’s

Provinces of Turkey and distribution of the country’s UWWTP’s

Population served by UWWTP’s in the provinces of Turkey

Type of UWWTP’s 51 UWWTP’s practice only primary (physical) treatment 73 apply secondary (biological) treatment 7 have tertiary (advanced) treatment facilities for nitrogen and/or phosphorous removal In settlements with a population > 100,000, 66% practice secondary treatment 47% of the settlements with a population < 100,000 apply secondary treatment usually followed by sea discharge.

Performance of UWWTP’s Relatively new treatment plants are capable of removing 96-99 % COD, BOD5 and TSS from the wastewater For older UWWTP’s treatment efficiency ranges between 0-90 % The treatment performance is fluctuating and not always satisfactory enough to comply with the national discharge consents The unit price of electrical energy was 0.13 YTL/kWh corresponding to 0.074 EUR/kWh.

Effluent Discharge Type

The amount of treated effluent being discharged to different types of receiving water bodies at Turkish UWWTP’s The volume of wastewater being discharged into the marine environment is 52% The number of UWWTP’s that discharge their effluent to the marine environment is 37% The main pollution load originating from the UWWTP’s end up in the seas surrounding three sides of the country.

Waste Management & Sludge Disposal

Reuse Potential of UWWTP Effluent in Turkey Although the Turkish legislation on wastewater reuse in agriculture has been established in 1991, there is no major improvement in its realization since then. Only few applications exist in small communities where domestic wastewater is used for irrigation of forest areas, gardens and parks. There are several planning procedures for the treatment of urban wastewater and its reuse for agricultural irrigation; for instance, treated effluent originating from Ankara UWWTP is used for irrigation of several crops. Konya province is particularly known as the “grain cellar” and the largest agricultural area of the country. Currently there are planning efforts of using Konya UWWTP effluent for the irrigation of cereals. A comprehensive, regional project known as the Southern Anatolia Project also features wastewater treatment and reuse for agricultural irrigation purposes.

Project Summary Up-to-date information about the prevailing situation of Turkish urban wastewater treatment plants was provided. Data was collected from the governmental agencies and by directly contacting the personnel in charge of the existing urban wastewater treatment plants of the country there are currently 131 urban wastewater treatment plants in operation among which 51 apply preliminary treatment, 73 operate secondary (biological) treatment units, and only 7 treatment plants practice tertiary treatment for advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal. Actually, only 55% of the total Turkish population is being served by the state-owned sewage treatment works.

CONCLUDING REMARKS The required data and information were highly scattered among the State Authorities and not gathered from a single organization. Besides, some of the data had to be estimated based on literature survey and personal contacts with the related governmental personnel. Part of the data necessitated confirmation and were considered to be less reliable. Proper recordings of data still lack and needs formation of a systematic database that can easily be accomplished even by public.

CONCLUDING REMARKS Infrastructure developments should be immediately involved in the databank and all the obtainable information has to be continuously up-dated. There is a chronic imbalance in population distribution of the country, making the water and wastewater issues a difficult task. Most of the population is settled around the coasts and highly industrialized regions of the country due to climatic conditions, geographical structure, existence of transportation network, fertility of land, and other social, economical and political aspects.

CONCLUDING REMARKS Sustainable water and wastewater management cannot be promoted unless the existing situation is well defined. Further investigation of the national monitoring and control acts is necessary, as without an idea on the national water and wastewater policies it is very difficult to establish a healthy and satisfactory management strategy. Effluent reuse potential has to be explored and agricultural reuse has to be practiced.

This work is a part of the project: “Development of Tools and Guidelines for the Promotion of the Sustainable Urban Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in the Agricultural Production in the Mediterranean Countries (Project Acronym: MEDAWARE)” which is financially supported by the European Commission, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Euro-Mediterranean Regional Program for Local Water Management.