Applying analytical decision methods for determination of the best treatment alternative to remove emerging micropollutants from drinking water and wastewater: triclosan example

Abstract

Increasing human activities have not only substantially altered the natural material cycle but also created new synthetic chemicals flows. Some of these chemicals, which are described as micropollutants (MPs), may result in adverse effects on human health, aquatic organisms, and ecosystems. MPs can be transported to the environment and water resources in a variety ways including domestic and industrial wastewater. Unfortunately, most MPs are only partially removed in existing conventional treatment plants. Therefore, conventional treatment plants should be modernized by advanced treatment technologies to protect the environment and human health. However, there are various mysteries about best treatment techniques, evaluation criteria, and decision-making methods. In this study, it was aimed to determine the best treatment alternatives for triclosan (TCS) which is one of the priority MPs. A total of 18 evaluation criteria were identified and prioritized by employing analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy methods. Treatment alternatives were identified and their performance was assessed through a comprehensive literature investigation. In decision-making processes of determining these alternatives, "technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS)," "preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE)," and "Višekriterijumsko kompromisno rangiranje (VIKOR)" analytical decision-making methods were employed, and priority rankings were determined according to each decision method. The final priority ranking was found as adsorption > membrane filtration > hybrid processes > advanced oxidation processes > constructed wetlands > conventional treatment processes > biological treatment > other treatment processes. Although the obtained results are specific to TCS, the employed analytical decision methods can be also used to decide the best treatment alternatives for other MPs.

Selection of priority energy efficiency practices for industrial steam boilers by PROMETHEE decision model

“…A large number of decision-making models are widely used in the literature to solve a problem in many scientific fields including engineering areas. Some of the most commonly used decision models are TOPSIS, PROMETHEE, MOORA, VIKOR, COPRAS, and EATWIOS (Stanujkic et al, 2013;Marković et al, 2017;Ozturk, 2018).…”

“…PROMETHEE decision model is widely used and can be successfully applied in many areas due to its mathematical properties and easy to use (Ozbek, 2017). PROMETHEE is basically based on binary comparisons based on assessment Energy Efficiency factors to determine the order of decision options (Ozturk, 2018). The most important feature differences from other MCDMs are take into account the importance of the evaluation of the relationship between the evaluation factors and its internal relationship to each evaluation factor (Majidi, 2013).…”

“…Another advantage of the PROMETHEE method is that it allows the decision-maker to make a particular choice in terms of an evaluation factor or to limit the evaluation factor according to the values it determines (Ozbek, 2017). It performs this by using its preference functions (Calıskan et al, 2013;Ozturk, 2018). PROMETHEE decision models can be widely used in many areas such as business and financial management, logistics and transportation, manufacturing and installation, energy management, tourism, health, agriculture, education, pharmaceutical industry, medicine, chemistry, workforce planning, environmental management, and social areas (Ozbek, 2017).…”

“…In addition, an overall weighted average score were calculated according to the weighted average of the scores given by the participants for each evaluation criteria. In PROMETHEE application, the criteria weight points must be 1 (Ozbek, 2017;Ozturk, 2018). Accordingly, the average criterion weight scores determined on a scale of 1-9 were normalized to be total to 1 with a linear proportion.…”

A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach to Evaluate Different UVC/H2O2 Systems in Wastewater Treatment

“…In this regard, the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) technique is an approach recommended for situations of this kind, as it indicates the most adequate path among a set of alternatives based on criteria considered important for a specific type of analysis with both precision and scientific support [36]. Furthermore, the MCDM's ability to simultaneously deal with qualitative and quantitative data, including expert opinions, makes it a commonly applied technique by decision-makers [37], including in situations involving the choice of adequate wastewater treatment methods [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. However, although these studies also focus on technology comparisons, their developments associated to AOP are rare [48,49].…”