Effects of the Upgrading of Al-Ramtha - Northern Jordan, Wastewater Treatment Plant on Quality of the Effluent and Environment

The present study concludes that the wastewater generated in Al-Ramtha wastewater treatment plant is classified as strong in terms of the total dissolved solids (TDS) content, the total suspended solids (TSS) content, and the chemical and biochemical oxygen demands (COD and BOD5). The efficiency of the plant in removing total dissolved solids (TDS) from wastewater is still low, while it is reasonably high in terms of suspended solids, COD and BOD removal. The upgrading which took place in 2003 added a significant improvement in the process of plant treatment regarding the selected parameters (COD, BOD and TSS). Regarding these parameters, the new plant effluent complies with Jordanian standards for irrigation parks, reuse for irrigation of cooked vegetables, fruits, and trees, and for fodder crops, but not with respect to TDS concentration of effluent used for irrigation purposes. The obtained concentrations of all analyzed metals indicate that the studied soils are uncontaminated with respect to Cd, Zn, Mn, Pb, Cu and Fe.