Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process for the selection of wastewater reuse targets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the principles on how to reuse the reclaimed wastewater in urban areas and furthermore, to determine appropriate reuse targets and optimize the selection of reuse targets on wastewater. Design/methodology/approach – Use Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to suggest the assessment criteria and subject weights of wastewater reuse. Candidate reclaimed wastewater reuse targets in this study includes “agriculture irrigation,” “industrial use,” “environmental use,” “urban use,” “groundwater recharge,” “life-use water,” and “infusion reservoir.” Findings – The analysis results of the pairwise comparison of the water targets under different assessment criteria level show that in all water targets, agriculture irrigation is more important than industrial use under the “public acceptance” at first. Then, the order results were used to suggest the future wastewater reuse targets under different assessment criteria levels and conducted an acceptance survey on the people of the urban areas. Originality/value – The results of this study can be a useful information for the system analysis of wastewater reclamation and reuse.