Evaluating the sustainability of an Electrocoagulation–Ozone–Lamella hybrid for wastewater treatment, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to rank it against three established technologies across environmental, economic, technical and social criteria.
A three-stage hybrid that combines the strengths of separate technologies into one process — achieving higher pollutant removal with less chemical use and less sludge than conventional treatment.
Uses an electric current instead of chemical coagulants to destabilise and remove pollutants — less sludge and no heavy chemical dosing.
Ozone oxidation breaks down toxic and residual organic substances, disinfecting the water and improving effluent quality.
Inclined-plate settling separates solids in a compact footprint, polishing the treated water before discharge or reuse.
The Analytic Hierarchy Process compares options across many sustainability criteria at once, combining expert judgment with quantitative data — essential when full prototype testing isn't available. Pairwise comparisons make the evaluation logical and transparent, with a built-in consistency check. Four main criteria (Environmental, Economic, Technical, Social) were weighted from three experts (35+, 15+, 15+ years) and applied to four alternatives: CEPT, Electrocoagulation (EC), Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR) and ECO₃.
| Main criterion | CEPT | EC | MBR | ECO₃ | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental impact | 0.210 | 0.343 | 0.359 | 0.377 | ECO₃ |
| Economic feasibility | 0.249 | 0.185 | 0.030 | 0.155 | CEPT |
| Technical criteria | 0.095 | 0.096 | 0.110 | 0.098 | MBR |
| Social impact | 0.066 | 0.071 | 0.080 | 0.085 | ECO₃ |
Combined quantitative + expert-based AHP scores. ECO₃ leads overall and wins the environmental and social pillars.
⬇ Download full AHP results XLSXEach criterion weight was varied from 0 to 0.9 to test how sensitive the ranking is to changing priorities. ECO₃ remained the top choice across the base case and the great majority of scenarios — the ranking only shifts toward CEPT when environmental weight is pushed near zero. This stability confirms the result is reliable and not an artefact of small changes in the weights.
Increases treated-water reuse efficiency toward the goal of up to 90% wastewater reuse, and can integrate solar power in future phases.
Reduces dependence on desalination and introduces a new hybrid technology, advancing sustainable engineering solutions.
Lowers chemical use and sludge, protecting local ecosystems and supporting cleaner, more efficient infrastructure.
