title: Assessment of WWTP design and upgrade options: balancing costs and risks of standards' exceedance.
abstract: Numerical models can be used to evaluate design and upgrade scenarios of urban wastewater systems on the basis of their ecological consequences. The objective of this paper is to illustrate a systematic procedure of system design/upgrade. This procedure consists of the following steps: (1) data collection and data reconstruction; (2) model building and calibration; (3) evaluation of scenarios; (4) uncertainty assessment. In contrast to conventional practice, this approach allows to choose the most appropriate trade-off between cost of measures and risk of non-compliance with regulatory limits. An example of its application dealing with the assessment of WWTP design and upgrade options is provided. Results show that by reducing the tank volumes compared to conventional design procedures, costs can be reduced sensibly while the risk of not meeting legislative requirements are only slightly increased.
authors.affiliation: BIOMATH, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. lorenzo.benedetti@biomath.ugent.be
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benedetti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bixio
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Vanrolleghem
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003657:Decision Making; D004323:Drainage, Sanitary; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D012015:Reference Standards; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012498:Sanitary Engineering; D012722:Sewage; D012984:Software; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D014876:Water Pollution
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage