Study of Different Utilization of Arak Urban Wastewater Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

The water crisis in arid and semi-arid areas causes more integrated studies regarding the utilization of urban wastewater. In this research, the analytic hierarchy process was conducted in 2014 according to the relative weight of criteria resulted from a questionnaire and a primary normal matrix. The results showed that the criteria including the quality of wastewater and benefit per cost were the most restrictive criteria that have the highest relative weight percentage as much as 22 and 21.5%, respectively. The other criteria were the public acceptance, government’s supportive policies potential of the area, and distance of feeding area with the water treatment plant with a percentage as much as 20.2, 14.6, 11.5, and 10.4%, respectively. The agricultural lands irrigation with the highest rank as much as 27.5% was preferred, which indicates that the use of Arak urban wastewater should be prioritized for agricultural irrigation. The second alternative is related to the rehabilitation and development of marginal pasture of Meighan Desert with a preference as much as 20% as the next priority. In addition, other utilization alternatives were the timberland and Greenwood, recharge of groundwater, and industry with a percentage as much as 18.7, 17.8, and 15.9%, respectively.