AWWA REUSE52069

The Municipality of Drarga is located in a semi-arid region near the coast in southwest Morocco. Although the town is located in the Souss River Valley, the river is dry for much of the year and most water for the area is conveyed from the mountains by a network of dirt canals (seguias). Additional water resources for the area have been exhausted due to the construction of Abdelmoumen Dam, a recent drought, migration into the region following electrification, and excessive use of groundwater. The wastewater generated in the town was discharged untreated, leading to the development of a large cesspool, where it percolated into 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 treatment facility and water reuse system for the area are being developed. At capacity, the wastewater treatment facility will serve an estimated 17,600 people in the Municipality of Drarga. This paper discusses the development of the wastewater treatment facility which includes influent screening, grit removal, anaerobic lagoons, denitrification lagoons, and flow holding basins. The effluent from the wastewater treatment facility will be passed through recirculating sand filters and reed beds (man-made constructed wetlands) to further reduce solids, organics, pathogens, and nitrogen to World Health Organization (WHO) standards for unrestricted agricultural irrigation water. No chemicals or complex mechanical equipment are required in the treatment process. The effluent from the wastewater treatment facility will be stored on-site in lined basins and pumped to local farms for use as irrigation water. Includes 8 references, tables, figures.