Avaliação da sustentabilidade de uma estação de tratamento de esgoto em área turística no litoral do Ceará: estudo de caso ETE de Flecheiras.

Abstract

The discharge of pollutants into water bodies constitutes a significant environmental issue, given that it can result in various negative impacts and compromise the sustainable development of society. Sewage treatment systems play a crucial role in mitigating the negative impacts caused by urbanization, industrialization, and population growth on the environment. However, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), while aiming to mitigate these impacts, generate by-products that influence sustainability. This study examined an WWTP that combines a UASB reactor, followed by an aerated submerged filter, lamellar settler, disinfection stage, and advanced treatment, located in the tourist district of Flecheiras, Trairi municipality, on the coast of Ceará, Brazil. The objective of this study was to assess the sustainability of the WWTP. The methodology comprised an analysis of the operational efficiency of the WWTP based on physicochemical and microbiological quality indicators. Additionally, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate potential environmental, social, and economic impacts under different proposed scenarios, using the Ecoinvent® database in the OpenLCA software. Proposed improvements were also suggested to contribute to the formulation of a sustainable management plan for the WWTP. The results indicated that the system configuration is effective for tourist regions with a hot climate, meeting discharge standards, despite the average characteristics of the treated effluent (6 mg/l of TSS, 78 mg/l of COD, and pH 7.7). The LCA revealed that, in the environmental dimension, climate change is the most relevant impact category. In the social dimension, the generated impacts interfere with human health and the quality of ecosystems. In the economic dimension, external costs resulting from environmental impacts proved to be significant in monetary terms. This information enables managers to make decisions oriented towards the sustainability of the system.