Suitability of Characteristic Wastewater Treatment Technologies: An Approach to Water Environment Protection in Major River Basins in the Former Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam 10.32526/ennrj/24/20250250
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Abstract
In 2025, Binh Thuan Province was merged into Lam Dong Province as part of a broader restructuring initiative by the Vietnamese government. In the former Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam, increasing pollution pressure in river basins (where wastewater is received) requires identifying and applying wastewater treatment technologies suitable to the actual situation of the wastewater sources. This study conducted a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) combined with the weighted sum method and visualized through radar charts to assess the suitability of treatment technologies, identify operational incidents, evaluate impact levels and prioritize rehabilitation of wastewater treatment systems (WWTSs) currently applied to five typical wastewater types: domestic, industrial, seafood processing, livestock and hospital wastewater. A set of criteria comprising 22 sub-criteria in four groups (technical, environmental, economic, social) is applied and the criteria are quantified based on field surveys and expert consultations. Results showed that domestic WWTS achieved the highest score (75/100) reflecting stable performance and a high level of suitability, while seafood processing WWTS scored lowest (50.625/100) due to high costs and unstable efficiency. Industrial WWTS (68.125/100), livestock WWTS (64.375/100) and hospital WWTS (68.75/100) systems performed moderately, with good technical outcomes but constraints in cost, energy use and emissions. Recurrent incidents such as aeration failures, sludge flotation and odor generation were common, though generally remediable. Seafood processing and industrial WWTS were prioritized for urgent rehabilitation. This study provides essential data and a practical MCA-based decision-support framework to improve existing WWTSs under local environmental and operational conditions, thereby supporting water resource protection in Vietnam’s river basins.
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