Risk Assessment Analysis in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant †
Institute of Water and Wastewater Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44–100 Gliwice, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at Innovations-Sustainability-Modernity-Openness Conference (ISMO’19), Bialystok, Poland, 22–23 May 2019.
Proceedings 2019, 16(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019016018
Published: 13 June 2019
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of Innovations-Sustainability-Modernity-Openness Conference (ISMO’19))
Abstract
:Risk management, an aspect of which is risk assessment, is a process supporting the proper function of municipal sewage treatment plants. Many factors affect the quality of treated wastewater. Risk assessment, its analysis, and hierarchization permit the elimination of events with the most destructive impacts on the purification process.
1. Introduction
Each operator of a system or technical facility is faced with risk. The more complex the functions of the system/object, from a technical point of view, the greater the threats to proper function. Municipal wastewater treatment plants are special facilities. Their exploiters have to deal with many problems, including variable loads of pollutants, extreme hydraulic loads, and adverse weather conditions [1,2]. The implementation of the risk management process is to enable better coping with the effects of adverse events and to prevent their occurrence. In general, the management process can be divided into two stages: risk assessment and risk control [3]. The components of the risk assessment are: identification, estimation, and determination of its acceptability [4]. The subject of the article is to present, using an example, the stages of risk assessment for estimating risk and determining its admissibility.
2. Material and Methods
The risk identified in an earlier stage of research was analyzed [5]. The occurring risk factors (inside, outside, internal, external, latent, explicit) were identified, and the types of risk events (qualitative, operational, ecological, financial) were identified. Based on the obtained results, the frequency of appearance events (F; see Table 1), and the losses (L; see Table 2) are determined and presented in the form of a risk matrix (Figure 1).
3. Results and Conclusions
The risk admissibility is determined on the basis of legal acts and adopted standards. Generally, risk levels are: acceptable (low), tolerable (medium), and unacceptable (high) risk. On the basis of the obtained risk map (Figure 2), individual areas defining risk admissibility can be determined.
Analysis of the risk map along with its hierarchy provides the possibility for better management of the facility, and an awareness of the possibility of risk. The risk map of the analyzed wastewater treatment plant is presented in Figure 3.
All events that occurred in the analyzed period are within the acceptable and tolerated range. These results indicate good functioning of the analyzed treatment plant.
Author Contributions
M.Ł. analyzed the data and contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; M.Ł., A.Z., and E.Z. wrote the paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Research Funds For Young Researchers awarded to the Institute of Water and Wastewater Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
References
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Figure 1.
The simplest risk matrix—a risk map [6].
Figure 1.
The simplest risk matrix—a risk map [6].
Figure 2.
Risk hierarchy.
Figure 3.
The risk map of the analyzed object.
Table 1.
Frequency of appearance (F).
| Occurring Events: | Frequency of Appearance | |
|---|---|---|
| (1/year) | (F) | |
| rarely | ≤2 | 1 |
| often | 2–4 | 2 |
| very often | ≥4 | 3 |
Table 2.
Losses (L).
| Type of Risk | Amount of Losses (L) |
|---|---|
| Qualitative | 1 |
| Qualitative, operational | 2 |
| Qualitative, operational, financial | 3 |
| Qualitative, operational, ecological, financial | 4 |
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MDPI and ACS Style
Łój-Pilch, M.; Zakrzewska, A.; Zielewicz, E. Risk Assessment Analysis in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant. Proceedings 2019, 16, 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019016018
AMA Style
Łój-Pilch M, Zakrzewska A, Zielewicz E. Risk Assessment Analysis in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant. Proceedings. 2019; 16(1):18. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019016018
Chicago/Turabian StyleŁój-Pilch, Magdalena, Anita Zakrzewska, and Ewa Zielewicz. 2019. "Risk Assessment Analysis in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant" Proceedings 16, no. 1: 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019016018
