Concept Selection in Wastewater Treatment Plant Design Using Analytical Hierarchy Process

In most Engineering designs concept selection is a critical stage of the design process. This study
focuses on the concept selection for the design of a proposed wastewater treatment facility for a
settlement (Forcados-Yokri) located in Burutu Local Government Area (LGA), Nigeria. Three
wastewater treatment concepts (Completely Mixed Activated Sludge (CMAS), Sequencing Batch
Reactor (SBR) and Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB)) were proposed. Also, based on
seventeen sub-criteria which were grouped into four major criteria (Environmental Impact, Social
Impact, Operability and Economic/schedule), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied for the
selection of the best concept. Among the seventeen sub-criteria were ten boundary conditions
generated with respect to the study area and the acceptable effluent discharge standards (FEPA,
DPR-EGASPIN & WHO).The parameter weight was done with respect to data from literature and
project stakeholders (interested parties involved in the selection process). The total relative
score with respect to the ten sub-criteria (which also served as boundary condition) for CMAS, SBR
and UASB were correspondingly 9.11, 30.40 and 25.63 respectively. This makes SBR the
recommended choice of the three proposed wastewater treatment concepts