The presentation "GIS-based multi-criteria analysis for the optimal siting of an eco-innovative wastewater treatment system in the rural locality of Bent Saidane (NE Tunisia)", was made at the CEMEPE 2021 and SECOTOX Conference.

Ms Safa Chaabane made her presentation online in the session entitled 'Advances in water and wastewater treatment'. Safa is a researcher in the Tunis International Center for Environmental Technologies (CITET) team in the AQUACYCLE Partnership.

Her presentation focused on the selection of an optimal siting for a pilot demonstration unit of the APOC system in the locality of Bent Saidane (Governorate of Zaghouan, delegation El Fahs, North East of Tunisia). The eco-innovative APOC system includes 3 components: Anaerobic digestion, Constructed wetlands and Photocatalytic Oxidation.

Several criteria need to be considered to ensure the site would be environmentally safe, socially acceptable and cost-effective.  To this effect, the Multi-Criteria Analysis which was performed included aspects such as the elevation, slope, road infrastructure, rivers/streams and lakes, geological classes and soil types, depth of groundwater wells, proximity to groundwater table and surface water bodies, and to potential sites for treated wastewater irrigation purposes, rural and urban settlements, and land use/land cover.

These criteria are at the basis of a suitability map that was produced which adopts 3 suitability indices: unsuitable, highly suitable, very highly suitable.

For more information about this presentation, please follow this link.

The 8th International Conference on Environmental Management, Engineering, Planning and Economics (CEMEPE 2021) and SECOTOX Conference took place in Thessaloniki (Greece) from July 20 to 24, 2021.

This conference is one of the biggest international environmental science meetings organized mainly by the Division of Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering within the Department of Civil Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in collaboration with the Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (SECOTOX). It is designed to encourage the exchange of ideas and knowledge between researchers, environmentalists, and policymakers involved in current issues in environmental science, engineering, and management.