SWOT-Based Assessment of the Maintenance Management of the Wastewater Treatment Plants in Iraq

Al-Attar, Reem Tareq; Al-Ani, Faris H.; Al-Khafaji, Mahmoud Saleh

doi:10.30684/etj.v40i5.2146

	SWOT-Based Assessment of the Maintenance Management of the Wastewater Treatment Plants in Iraq
Engineering and Technology Journal
Article 6, Volume 40, Issue 5, May 2022, Pages 677-694 PDF (1.23 M)
Document Type: Research Paper
DOI: 10.30684/etj.v40i5.2146
Authors
Reem Tareq Al-Attar^* ¹; Faris H. Al-Ani¹; Mahmoud Saleh Al-Khafaji²
¹Civil Engineering Dept., University of Technology-Iraq, Alsina’a street, 10066 Baghdad, Iraq.
²Civil Engineering Dept, Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq
Abstract
In Iraq, due to WWTPs being old and outdated, an evaluation of the maintenance management is needed to highlight the points of weaknesses and strengths of the plants. In this paper, the strength, weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis model is designed with the Delphi Technique and Liker-scale and applied to the old Rustumiya project in Iraq (ORP). The design and application of this model are based on the design, operation and maintenance drawings and reports, and field visits to the ORP. In addition, three rounds of the questionnaire were sent to more than 80 experts varied in qualification and experience, considering the SWOT elements of the methods, materials, and human resources issues. The weight, relative importance, and implementation of each item in each SWOT element and the SWOT elements and issues were computed. The results showed that in the internal elements, the degree of importance of the weakness has a higher value of importance than the strength. In the external elements, the opportunities are considered more important. For the four issues, methods have the lowest weight while the materials have the highest. This alerts the major development required in this sector for a new plan for selecting and preparing maintenance materials. However, human resources come after the materials in terms of importance. The developed SWOT analysis model is beneficial for evaluating WWTPs with simplified and realistic results. Further, it can evaluate other projects like irrigation projects and water treatment plants.
Highlights
The developed SWOT analysis model is a beneficial tool for evaluating WWTPs. The developed SWOT analysis can evaluate other projects like irrigation projects and water treatment plants. There is a need for new plans for managing human resources development.
Keywords
SWOT; Wastewater Treatment Plants; assessment; Delphi technique; Liker scale

References
[1] M. Niero, M. Pizzol, H. G. Bruun, and M. Thomsen, Comparative life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment in Denmark including sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, J. Clean. Prod., 68 (2014) 2014,doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.12.051. [2] S. Göb, E. Oliveros, S. H. Bossmann, A. M. Braun, R. Guardani, and C. A. O. Nascimento, Modeling the kinetics of a photochemical water treatment process by means of artificial neural networks, Chem. Eng. Process. Process Intensif., 38 (1999) 373–382, doi: 10.1016/S0255-2701(99)00028-8. [3] G. R. Shetty and S. Chellam, Predicting membrane fouling during municipal drinking water Nano filtration using artificial neural networks, J. Memb. Sci., 217 (2003) 69–86, doi: 10.1016/S0376-7388(03)00075-9. [4] Ö. Çinar, New tool for evaluation of performance of wastewater treatment plant: Artificial neural network, Process Biochem., 40 (2005) 2980–2984, doi: 10.1016/j.procbio.2005.01.012. [5] D. Hanbay, I. Turkoglu, and Y. Demir, Prediction of wastewater treatment plant performance based on wavelet packet decomposition and neural networks, Expert Syst. Appl., 34 (2008) 1038–1043, doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2006.10.030. [6] H. Jones, F. Moura, and T. Domingos, Transport Infrastructure Project Evaluation Using Cost-benefit Analysis, Procardia - Soc. Behav. Sci., 111 (2014) 400–409, doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.073. [7] J. A. Scott, W. Ho, and P. K. Dey, A review of multi-criteria decision-making methods for bioenergy systems, Energy, 42 (2012) 146–156, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2012.03.074. [8] F. Ribeiro, P. Ferreira, and M. Araújo, Evaluating future scenarios for the power generation sector using a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) tool: The Portuguese case, Energy, 52 (2013) 126–136, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2012.12.036. [9] I. Jacyna-Gołda and M. Izdebski, The Multi-criteria Decision Support in Choosing the Efficient Location of Warehouses in the Logistic Network, Procedia Eng., 187 (2017) 635–640, doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2017.04.424. [10] E. U. B. Harvey, Milorad M. Novicevic, Michael, chad W. Autry, Dual-perspective SWOT: a synthesis of marketing intelligence and planning, Mark. Intell. Plan, 22 (2016). [11] J. D. H. Van Wijngaarden, G. R. M. Scholten, and K. P. Van Wijk, Strategic analysis for health care organizations: The suitability of the SWOT-analysis, Int. J. Health Plann. Manage, 27 (2012) 34–49, doi: 10.1002/hpm.1032. [12] M. Tavana, M. Pirdashti, D. T. Kennedy, J. P. Belaud, and M. Behzadian, A hybrid Delphi-SWOT paradigm for oil and gas pipeline strategic planning in Caspian Sea basin, Energy Policy, 40 (2012) 345–360, doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.10.020. [13] S. Brad and E. Brad, Enhancing SWOT analysis with TRIZ-based tools to integrate systematic innovation in early task design, Procedia Eng., 131 (2015) 616–625, doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2015.12.455. [14] K. H. Silber and W. R. Foshay, Handbook of Improving Performance in the Workplace, 1(2010). [15] J. Steurer, the Delphi method: An efficient procedure to generate knowledge, Skeletal Radiol., 40 (2011) 959–961, doi: 10.1007/s00256-011-1145-z. [16] M. Anjum, N. H. Al-Makishah, and M. A. Barakat, Wastewater sludge stabilization using pre-treatment methods, Process Saf. Environ. Prot., 102 (2016) 615–632, doi: 10.1016/j.psep.2016.05.022. [17] A. E. M. M Ramadan, A. A. Abdel Rahman, A. M. Abdullah, and O. A. Eltawab, Evaluation of Wastewater Treatment Plants in El-Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, Org. Chem. Curr. Res., 06 (2017), doi: 10.4172/2161-0401.1000184. [18] E. GÜREL and M. TAT, SWOT ANALYSIS: A THEORETICAL REVIEW, J. Int. Soc. Res., 10 (2017). [19] M. I. Yousuf, Using Experts` Opinions through Delphi Technique, Pract. Assessment, Res. Eval., 12 (2007). [20] O. Helmer-Hirschberg, Looking forward: a guide to futures research, CA Sage, (1983). [21] N. C. Dalkey, STUDIES IN THE QUALITY OF LIFE; DELPHI AND DECISION-MAKING, (1972). [22] D. Beglar and T. Nemoto, Developing Likert-scale questionnaires, JALT2013 Conf. Proc(2014)1–8. [23] H. Mohammed Ali I.Al-Hashimi, The Performance of Oxidation Pond forWastewater Treatment in Rural Areas a Case Study Al-Dewaniyah Province, Eng. Technol. J., 32 (2014). [24] A. R. H. Adnan A. Al-Samawi, Evaluation of the Performance of the Aerated Grit Chambers Under No Maintenance Condition, Eng. Technol. J., 32 (2014). [25] S. N. H. Al-Samawi, Adnan A., Hussaini, Nitrogen Compounds Distribution in Diyala River Opposite Al-Rustimiyah Sewage Treatment Plants, Eng. Technol. J., 34 (2016). [26] A. Aziz and A. Aws, Waste Water Production Treatment and use in Iraq Country, (2012)19. [27] New York State Insurance Exchange touted as new hot money center, 6 (1979) p. 1979. [28] M. I. Yousuf, Using experts’ opinions through Delphi technique, Pract. Assessment, Res. Eval., 12 (2007). [29] N. Dalkey and O. Helmer, An experimental apllication of Deplhi method to use of experts, Management Science, 9 (1963) 458–467. [30] C. K. Fan and C.-L. Cheng, A study to identify the training needs of life insurance sales representatives in Taiwan using the Delphi approach, Int. J. Train. Dev., 10 (2006) 212–226, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2419.2006.00255.x. A. Joshi, S. Kale, S. Chandel, and D. Pal, Likert Scale: Explored and Explained, Br. J. Appl. Sci. Technol., 7 (2015) 396–40
Statistics Article View: 302 PDF Download: 337