Mario Kerby, Chemonics International, 1133 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, 202-955-3429, mkerby@chemonics.net

The Water Resources Sustainability project developed a pilot project to treat wastewater formerly discharged untreated directly into nearby ponds and ultimately water sources in Drarga, Morocco. This town of 8,000 is rapidly urbanizing and treated wastewater can be used for agriculture. The goal was to install a low-cost, easy-to-operate treatment plant adaptable to the local environment that would require minimum resources for operation and minimize the risk of aquifer pollution with nitrates. This project used data on water quality and average flows of effluents, engineering data, and KAP studies of community willingness to accept crops irrigated with treated wastewater. The project installed a sand filtration system with re-circulation of effluents to eliminate nitrates, and tertiary treatment using reed beds. A provincial inter-agency monitoring committee was created to monitor the quality of treated effluents. Treatment reduced total nitrogen in wastewater by 96.8%; biochemical oxygen demand by 98.5%; fecal coliforms by 99.9%; and parasites by 100%. Full cost recovery was achieved by sales of treated water to farmers, methane gas from anaerobic basins, sludge converted to compost, and reeds from the reed beds as well as a modest flat-rate charge for hook-up to the sewerage system. This provides a successful model of an appropriate technology and decentralized wastewater management able to achieve cost recovery and significant improvements in water quality for replication elsewhere. Positive health impacts resulted from converting raw sewage to usable and safe water suitable for irrigating crops.

Learning Objectives:

• Audience members will learn about a model for wastewater treatment that had significant positive health impacts and achieved cost recovery, including the steps in developing the system.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I have worked on the project described, employed through Chemonics International.