Environmental Science & Engineering - www.esemag.com - January 2005
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Wastewater treatment training in Armenia
By George Katsarov and Shahane Arsenyan
The Canadian Executive Service
Organization (CESO), which
provides development assistance
to organizations abroad
and in Canada, recently sponsored a
“Wastewater Treatment Training
Program” in Armenia. A local firm,
JINJ Engineering Co., in Armenia had
requested the training program. George
Katsarov, P.Eng. CESO Volunteer
Advisor and technical expert, conducted
the training program, which was
held in the JINJ offices in Yerevan,
Armenia in August 2004.
The audience comprised JINJ engineering
and management personnel,
technical personnel from the Yerevan
Wastewater Treatment Plant, water and
wastewater engineering students from
Yerevan Architectural-Construction
Institute, and other government and
NGO participants. The training program
provided information on modern
wastewater treatment technology –
process and equipment – as it applied
to urban, industrial, rural and small
community conditions. The course
included presentation of technical
material, process flow diagrams, plant
layouts, small communities projects,
review of current manufacturers’
equipment, review of current technical
publications, open class discussions,
participants’ presentations, wastewater
treatment plant visits, etc. After completion,
certificates of achievements
were presented to the participants. The
training program lasted 10 days.
Armenia is a Newly Independent
State (NIS), re-established after the fall
of the Soviet System. Armenia’s government
has made a strong commitment to converge to the environmental
legislation towards EU (European
Union) directives. Since 2004, the
Government of Armenia has focused
on the reconstruction process of wastewater
treatment plants, which is carried
out both by urban infrastructure development
projects and by local and
regional projects on water resources
conservation and management.
The country, moving from centralized
governance to more decentralized
structures, has experienced disintegration
of water resources and wastewater
management and the breakdown of
former public utilities due to shortage
of funds, maintenance and operation.
As a result, 19 of the existing 20
wastewater treatment plants, with total
capacity of 1,000 CMD in different
cities in Armenia, have partially or
completely ceased their operations.
The Yerevan wastewater treatment
plant, the largest in the country with
550 cubic metres a day capacity and
4,200 km of system network and collectors,
is operating with only mechanical
treatment. The biological treatment
system of the plant is completely
out of service due to equipment failures
and lack of funds for repairs and
refurbishment. The network pipelines
in the city are also in a dangerous condition
because of insufficient maintenance
and high construction costs.
For many cities, the rehabilitation
costs of existing wastewater treatment
stations due to deteriorated structures,
outdated technology and process equipment
exceed the construction costs of
new stations. In the rural areas in the
country, local communities do not have
wastewater treatment collection facilities.
As a result of the lack of adequate
wastewater treatment and poor management
of water resources, the Armenian
agricultural sector is deeply affected. A
combination of arid climatic conditions,
low quality water used for crop irrigation,
uneven distribution of water supply,
poor water resources management,
etc., has resulted in a desertification
process and loss of topsoil in many
agricultural areas in the country.
To combat the present water supply
and wastewater treatment inadequacies
and to achieve the goals established by
the government’s road map to meet EU
environmental standards, the country has
recently adopted a new Water Code of
Armenia. The Water Code clearly
defines the role of government and private
operators involved in all related
activities. A Regulatory Commission
will be responsible for the licensing,
supervision and control of water
resources, water supply, wastewater discharges
and other environmental factors.
The government’s commitment to
meet the EU standards and the growing
interest of the world financial institutions
in financing environmental
projects in Armenia make that country
a good business development ground
for Canadian engineering firms and
equipment manufacturers. JINJ
Engineering Co. in Yerevan would welcome
the representation of interested
Canadian manufacturers in Armenia.
George Katsarov, P.Eng., is with CESO
in Toronto, Ontario.
Email: gkatsarov@sympatico.ca.
Shahane Arsenian is with JINJ
Engineering Co. in Yerevan, Armenia.
Email: shah_arsen@yahoo.com.
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