Background and Objective: Determining the WASTEWATER quality index of municipal WASTEWATER treatment plant for reuse or disposal purposes has always been an important issue. Therefore, developing a WASTEWATER quality index facilitates the investigation and selection of the best option for WASTEWATER reuse or disposal. Thus, determining the important quality parameters and the level of importance of each parameter in terms of the application of the WASTEWATER are essential. Method: In this study, after determining the important quality parameters by Delphi method, the weight of each factor was calculated using the multi-criteria decision making tools in order to develop the WASTEWATER quality index. Then, the matrix for WASTEWATER quality index was presented by defining the sub-indices for each parameter using the standards for WASTEWATER reuse and disposal and by integration methods. Findings: Results indicated that the quality parameters including BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, Fecal Coliform, pH, NH4 PO4 are the most important parameters. Also, developing the WASTEWATER quality index through different methods for reuse and disposal and application of various weights for each parameter was found to be a more accurate and reliable method. This method allows for fast and simple evaluation of WASTEWATER in each treatment plant and comparison of different municipal WASTEWATER treatment plants

Background: Hospitals generate relatively large quantities of WASTEWATER that may contain various potentially hazardous materials; therefore the proper management of hospital WASTEWATER is essential.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the quality and quantity of WASTEWATER in the hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran, were studied and the suitable method for WASTEWATER management in the hospitals was determined.Results: Monitoring of pH, TSS, BOD5, COD and total coliforms indicated that the quality of WASTEWATER in the hospitals was similar to domestic WASTEWATER. The WASTEWATER production in the hospitals was determined to be in the range of 398 to 1090 L/d/(occupied bed). The study on WASTEWATER treatment and disposal methods demonstrated that discharge to municipal WASTEWATER collection system is the best alternative for WASTEWATER management in the hospitals, but this approach is not applicable for all of the hospitals. Baharloo, Cancer Institute, Children, Farabi, Imam Khomeini, Razi, Roozbeh, Shariati and Valiasr hospitals can be connected to municipal WASTEWATER collection system at present.Conclusion: It is recommended that these hospitals’ WASTEWATER be discharged to municipal WASTEWATER collection system. Amir Alam, Bahrami, Mirza Koochak Khan and Sina hospitals will be able to discharge their WASTEWATER into sewerage network at second phase of Tehran sewerage project (in 2010) and Arash Hospital will be able to discharge its WASTEWATER into sewerage network at third phase of Tehran sewerage project (in 2015). These hospitals have to select onsite separate WASTEWATER treatment alternative.

The conventional activated sludge technique in WASTEWATER treatment is an expensive process and suffers from problems such as large amounts of sludge, high energy consumption, high turbidity in the effluent, and not effectively respond to variations in the composition of WASTEWATER. The use of municipal WASTEWATER for microalgae production and its conversion to value-added products such as biodiesel in conjunction with WASTEWATER treatment is a new approach in the WASTEWATER treatment industry. But due to the lack of sufficient information, it has not been extended to a commercial level and most reported activities are at the research level. Specifically, in simultaneous WASTEWATER treatment and microalgae production in a semi-pilot scale very few publications exist. In this study, for the first time, simultaneous WASTEWATER treatment and microalgae production was conducted in a semi-pilot 500 l open pond raceway. The objectives of this study were, on one hand, evaluation of the potential of algae-based treatment for removal of nutrients and COD and, on the other hand, evaluation of the potential of WASTEWATER to produce microalgae in a semi-pilot scale in an open pond raceway. The results indicated that in week-long cultivation, biomass concentration of the broth reached 1. 25 g/L with the lipid content of 25%. Harvesting of microalgae using chemical flocculation resulted in 83% recovery of algal solid content. The dried microalgae, during direct acidic transesterification with 76% yield, produced biodiesel with proper fatty acid profile mainly based on Palmitic, Oleic, and Linoleic acids that accounted for 49. 5% of total lipid content. The simultaneous WASTEWATER treatment results indicated COD removal of approximately 50% along with total nitrogen removal of 25%, and phosphate removal of 50% was achieved. This study indicated that microalgae production using WASTEWATER is a promising approach to the development of green technology to produce value-added products.

When a new WASTEWATER treatment plant is being designed by computer simulation, detailed data about organic fractions of influent WASTEWATER (measured as chemical oxygen demand) are usually not available, but knowledge of the typical ranges of these fractions is indispensable. The influent chemical oxygen demand fractions can substantially influence the results of simulation-based design such as reactor volumes, solids residence time, effluent quality, oxygen demand, sludge production, etc. This article attempts to give an overview of WASTEWATER organic fractions as modeling parameters and presents new chemical oxygen demand fractionation results from Hungary. According to the data from literature, the ratio of chemical oxygen demand components in raw WASTEWATER is very different and the average composition is as follows: Inert particulate = 17.1 %, slowly biodegradable = 57.9 %, inert soluble = 7.8 % and readily biodegradable = 17.5 %. The Hungarian WASTEWATER samples were analyzed according to STOWA (Dutch foundation for applied water research) protocol and the obtained results were not much different from those of literature (inert particulate = 23.7 %, slowly biodegradable = 49.8 %, inert soluble = 4.6 % and readily biodegradable = 21.9 %), but some typical characteristics were observed.

Lime stabilization is a chemical method used for WASTEWATER sludge stabilization. It is capable of decreasing large quantities of pathogens and of preventing microbial degradation of sludge organic materials. The main objective of the present experimental research was to investigate stabilization of the sludge from west Ahwaz WASTEWATER treatment plant by lime addition and to control if the microbial quality of this sludge conforms to the USEPA standards for sludge reuse and safe disposal. The study was carried out on a pilot scale in 5 stages over a period of 12 months (July 2005 to June 2006) at west Ahwaz WASTEWATER treatment plant laboratory using raw sludge. For the purposes of this study, a 30-liter reactor was commissioned and loaded with sludge and appropriate quantities of hydrated lime were added based on the solid waste percent. The parameters used to determine stabilization efficiency were pH, Total Coliform, Fecal Coliform, and parasite eggs. The results showed that lime addition at a ratio of 265g Ca (OH)2/kg. ds was the optimum level for sludge stabilization in west Ahwaz WASTEWATER treatment plant, which is acceptable from both economic and technical viewpoints. The method is capable of achieving class B but never satisfied class A of USEPA standards.

Among the conventional methods for treatment of colored textile waste, the electrochemical technique seems to be the most powerful, simple and economic. In this method a direct current is applied to an electrochemica cell containing coloted waste and due to the passage of current oxidation and reduction reactions is caused the destruction of the dyestuff and removal of the color from the solution.                                                                                                                    In present research dyebath solution containing direct, dispers, acidic, reactive dyes and mixture of those were treated and %90 of color removal and %60 reduction on COD of the solution sere achieved. The parameters such as time, current, voltage, type and surface area of the electrode, pH, electrolyte on the pert of the cell were examined and their role on  the efficiency of the method were clarified.                                       The spectroscopic studies showed that the dye material was reduced to simple components.