Full Description

The Municipality of Drarga is located in a semi-arid region near the coast insouthwest Morocco. Although the town is located in the Souss River Valley, theriver is dry for much of the year and most water for the area is conveyed fromthe mountains by a network of dirt canals (seguias). Additional water resourcesfor the area have been exhausted due to the construction of Abdelmoumen Dam, arecent drought, migration into the region following electrification, andexcessive use of groundwater. The wastewater generated in the town was dischargeduntreated, leading to the development of a large cesspool, where it percolatedinto the soil or evaporated. As part of the Water Resources Sustainability (WRS)project, jointly funded by the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) and the Moroccan Ministry of the Environment, a wastewater treatmentfacility and water reuse system for the area are being developed. At capacity,the wastewater treatment facility will serve an estimated 17,600 people in theMunicipality of Drarga. This paper discusses the development of the wastewatertreatment facility which includes influent screening, grit removal, anaerobiclagoons, denitrification lagoons, and flow holding basins. The effluent from thewastewater treatment facility will be passed through recirculating sand filtersand reed beds (man-made constructed wetlands) to further reduce solids, organics,pathogens, and nitrogen to World Health Organization (WHO) standards forunrestricted agricultural irrigation water. No chemicals or complex mechanicalequipment are required in the treatment process. The effluent from the wastewatertreatment facility will be stored on-site in lined basins and pumped to localfarms for use as irrigation water. Includes 8 references, tables, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 01/01/2000 Number of Pages: 14 File Size: 1 file , 280 KB