Urban wastewater treatment plants and reuse potential in Turkey: Selected examples from the western cities

The present study refers to the outcomes of a detailed survey on the current situation of Turkish Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants (UWWTPs). The survey covers the identification of the population served by UWWTPs, presentation of the current technologies (physical, biological and advanced) applied in the country's UWWTPs, prevailing effluent disposal criteria, detailed assessment of UWWTPs selected from the Western part of Turkey representing highly urbanised and industrialised districts, and elucidation of needs for upgrading the selected UWWTPs to comply with the current discharge standards and irrigation water quality criteria. Following an extensive data collection and evaluation step, Turkey's most recent situation in the number of UWWTPs, effluent produced in Turkish municipalities both quantity-and quality-wise, urban wastewater treatment types and disposal methods as well as reuse potential of treated urban wastewater have been presented and discussed.