World's First Floating Wastewater Treatment Plant Enters Service

World's First Floating Wastewater Treatment Facility Begins Operations The world's first innovative floating wastewater reception and treatment facility has begun operating in Gocek coves. The facility aims to prevent maritime pollution from vessels in Turkey's coastal areas and bays at the source by providing disposal of maritime waste at the point of generation, thereby protecting marine and coastal areas.

Research and development project

The floating wastewater reception and treatment facility, an R&D project of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, is capable of accepting wastewater from vessels and treating this wastewater at the same location using advanced high-quality technology. The system, registered with the Ministry's 'Maritime Waste Application', can process wastewater information into the blue cards of vessels providing wastewater and issue certificates. The facility is located in Kille Cove in Fethiye Gocek Gulf and has been operating for one year.

Capacity can reach 100 cubic meters per day

Although this first-of-its-kind facility has a daily capacity of 16 cubic meters, the flexible design technology can increase daily capacity to accept up to 100 cubic meters of wastewater. The facility treats wastewater from 15 to 20 vessels per hour. Special filters within the system eliminate microplastics that may come from vessel wastewater.

Beneficial to economy and environment

Vessels must leave their navigation routes to dispose of wastewater at waste discharge stations within the bay or gulf, traveling back and forth and covering distance. During this process, depending on vessel size, they consume 100 to 250 liters of fuel per hour, causing additional carbon dioxide emissions from wastewater disposal. With the implementation of the Ministry's R&D project, these facilities will be placed at points near vessel navigation routes, eliminating additional carbon dioxide emissions from wastewater disposal.

System will operate on solar energy

Thanks to the powerful pump on the floating dock, a vessel's complete wastewater can be collected in approximately 4 minutes. The floating wastewater reception and treatment facility, equipped with equipment on board and requiring no connection to shore, can operate independently using clean energy. The project involved civil engineers, maritime (oceanography) specialists, environmental engineers, treatment technology experts, and software and computer specialists.

50 facilities needed for Mugla coastlines

With 1,480 kilometers of coastline, Mugla—which has Turkey's longest coastlines—requires at least 50 such facilities in its bays, and over 300 locations throughout Turkey. The planned facilities are expected to provide significant advantages both economically and environmentally, as well as in terms of time.

Zero waste

It was announced that Turkey's 'Zero Waste' project, initiated by Emine Erdoğan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, could also be applied to the blue homeland, and it was emphasized that Emine Erdoğan's ownership and support of such a major project is crucial for bringing it to Turkey.

System is both healthy and economical

Vessel captain Efe Akdayıoğlu, who benefits from the floating wastewater treatment facility, stated: "It benefits us both in terms of time and economically. This facility does not exist in any other country. It is a different system and much healthier and better."

Boat operators want more facilities

Waste Facility Station Manager Mehmet Eksin noted that both domestic and foreign vessels come to the facility for wastewater disposal, saying: "Most of our customers here are foreigners. They marvel at it, while Turks are only now discovering it. Foreigners say this system came late even in Europe and Turkey. The vessels that come are so satisfied they come back again. It is a zero-waste facility. Turkish captains say this system is rare in this region, insufficient, that traveling to and from Gocek is far, that they do not want to operate illegally, and they want this system and these stations to be multiplied."

World's first and only floating wastewater reception and treatment facility

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çağdaş Gönen, Head of the Environmental Sciences Department at Mugla Sıtkı Koçman University, stated: "This platform is an R&D project of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Under the project, we receive wastewater from vessels and ships on a floating facility. At the same time, we can treat wastewater at this location. This facility measures 4 meters wide and 20 meters long and operates independently from shore to perform treatment. On average, a vessel can easily dispose of its wastewater in 7 to 10 minutes. Currently, its capacity is 16 cubic meters per day. However, based on need, this capacity can be designed to treat 50, or even 100 cubic meters of wastewater per day from vessels. Additionally, it is equipped to operate with clean energy and has the capacity to generate its own energy through solar panels and operate independently. Another feature is that we employed advanced technology in treatment technology. Through this technology, microplastics in vessel wastewater are eliminated, preventing them from entering the sea. When these floating platforms are placed near vessel navigation routes, emissions from vessels disposing of wastewater will be eliminated. We can confidently say this platform is the world's first and only floating wastewater reception and treatment facility. We achieved this by bringing together different interdisciplinary engineering fields. We brought together civil engineers, maritime specialists, treatment specialists, and even manufacturing specialists."

System registered with Ministry and Coast Guard wastewater systems

Gönen noted that the system is linked to the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry and Coast Guard wastewater reception systems, continuing: "Another feature of this facility is that it is registered with the Maritime Waste Application of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. When vessels come and dispose of their wastewater here, because we register it in the Ministry's system, both the ministry and the Coast Guard can easily see from their systems that a vessel has disposed of wastewater."

Capacity for 50 facilities in Mugla, 500 facilities for Turkey's coastlines

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gönen, noting that the floating wastewater treatment facility project could enable Turkey's zero waste program—applied on land—to be implemented at sea, explained: "Our President's wife, Emine Erdoğan, has championed an environmental project that will serve as an example to the world—the zero waste project—in our country, and this project has become applicable both in our country and has gained significant attention worldwide. This R&D project has the power to become the maritime component of Turkey's zero waste project being implemented domestically. A rough calculation with this facility shows we have the potential to place 50 units in Mugla Province and up to 500 nationwide. When we presented this R&D project to some funding sources in the European Union, we saw it could genuinely be funded. These are large numbers. I can say that for this project to come to fruition, the support and patronage of Emine Erdoğan is essential."