Descripción de los conjuntos de datos

As stated in Chapter 3, the empirical investigation was achieved by sampling from 14 residential blocks in the Muharraq Governorate representing the three income levels in the country: high income, mid income and low income areas. The sampling, followed by sending the samples to the lab for analysis during the course of three days to get their average, had to be comparable to the sample taken in Ramadan season. The full results of the OHW Characterization of Muharraq

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Governorate are shown in table 5.2, which realizes the second objective of this research. (Appendix 2)

Table 5.2: Results of the Empirical Investigation for OHW Characterization of Muharraq Governorate Including the test Methods Used

These results will be interpreted after matching them with the matrix developed in section 5.2, as well as the selection of the most suitable management technologies based on the OHW characteristics presented in the aforementioned table.

The parameters grouped according to the measuring unit used, as well as a comparison between the average of the normal days and Ramadan results is illustrated in the figures below:

PARAMETER UNIT DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 AVERAGE RAMADAN

pH (1:2.5 water extract) 4.8 5.1 4.5 4.8 4.7

Ash Content @ 750 C 5.50 5.40 3.50 4.80 1.40

Organic Matter @ 550 C 93.50 92.70 96.10 94.10 83.10

Oil & Grease 7.30 3.60 7.80 6.23 9.30

Total Phosphorous (P) 0.13 0.07 0.21 0.14 0.62 Sulphur 0.11 0.13 0.11 0.12 0.06 Moisture 76.70 66.20 74.80 72.57 73.50 Carbonate 0.60 0.90 0.60 0.70 0.60 Cadmium (CD) <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 Chromium (Cr) <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 3.30 Lead (Pb) <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 Copper (Cu) 15 17 17 16 5 Nickel (Ni) 4.60 1.60 3.30 3.17 2.80 Zinc (Zn) 89.00 113.0 104.0 102.0 26.0 Mercury (Hg) <0.2 <0.2 <0.2 <0.2 <0.2 Total Organic Carbon (TOC) 45,720 64,480 45,520 51,907 43,760 Total Ammonial Nitrogen (TAN) 1,070 935 1,612 1,206 469 Total Nitrogen (N) 6,156 3,117 7,900 5,724 3,840 Ammonium Salts 1,380 1,206 2,079 1,555 605 Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 117,000 154,000 134,000 135,000 183,000 Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) 29,250 38,500 34,840 34,197 29,280

C:N 7 21 6 9 11

MJ/Kg 21.2 19.1 15.2 18.5 16.9

KCal/Kg 5,062 4,560 3,638 4,420 4,206

MJ/Kg 19.1 17.2 13.7 16.7 15.2

KCal/Kg 4,560 4,108 3,277 3,982 3,789 Net Calorific Value (LHV)

%

mg/kg

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Figure 5.1: A Comparison between the Average of Normal Days and Ramadan for some Parameters using Percent unit

According to figure 5.1 above, it is obvious that in totality, the results do not exhibit a major difference between the two seasons, barring in organic matter that was higher in the normal days (94.1 percent) than Ramadan (83.1 percent), as well as the oil and grease, which is oppositely higher in Ramadan (9.3 percent) as compared to normal days (6.2 percent).

The consumption pattern of goods in Ramadan apart from the unique nature of fasting month in that people are consuming more oil in preparing traditional cuisines, and the lower consumption of fruits and vegetables in the form of salads or sweets, which is known to impact the organic household waste content, shows slight differences regarding the OM and oil and grease contents. Figure 5.2 shows the comparison between the average of the normal days and Ramadan month regarding the parameters using the unit mg/kg:

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Figure 5.2: Comparison between the Average of the Normal Days and Ramadan regarding the Parameters in mg/kg

Figure 5.3: Comparison of Heavy Metals Concentration in the OHW in the Average of Normal Days and in Ramadan

mg/kg

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As shown in figure 5.3 above, the heavy metals were all low and showed no differences, except for Copper (Cu) which was found to be higher in the normal days (16 mg/kg) as compared to Ramadan (5.3 mg/kg), and Zinc (Zn) which was 102 mg/kg compared to Ramadan (26 mg/kg). It was observed that there are higher heavy metals content (but still considered low and within the safe range according to EIA (2009). This can be justified again by the nature of the fasting month that is characterized by different consumption pattern in that the public trend goes toward purchasing more food and other groceries in Ramadan. However, since people are fasting, they follow different ways in preparing special food that focus on meat, chicken and vegetables, but no seafood during this season.

The TOC is higher during the normal days since people do not fast and consume lots of organic carbon sources throughout the day to produce waste with a high TOC. Nitrogen is higher in normal days for the same reason in that people are eating three times a day compared to just once in Ramadan, which will definitely reflect on the OHW composition and therefore, characteristics. The COD is higher in Ramadan as compared to the normal days. Since Chemical Oxygen Demand or COD is a measurement of the oxygen required to oxidize soluble and particulate organic matter in water, Chemical Oxygen Demand is an important water quality parameter. Higher COD levels mean a greater amount of oxidizable organic material in the sample, which will then reduce dissolved oxygen (DO) levels. A reduction in DO can lead to anaerobic conditions. https://realtechwater.com/parameters/chemical-oxygen-demand/

More details will be illustrated after matching results and selecting the suitable technologies. The following figure shows the calorific value in the two seasons:

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Figure 5.4: Comparison between the Normal Day’s Average and Ramadan regarding the Gross Calorific Value (CV) in MJ/kg

The OHW of normal days is shown to have a higher gross calorific value than Ramadan; that is, it reached 18.5MJ/kg, which was slightly lower in Ramadan with a value of 16.9MJ/kg.

An overview of calorific value of selected fuels is listed in Table 5.3 below for making comparisons with our result. The table demonstrates that the OHW of Muharraq Governorate is comparable to the RDF in Germany:

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Table 5.3: An Overview of Calorific Value of selected Fuels

Source: (World Energy Council, 2016)

The pH was measured during the two seasons, but the results don’t show significant differences between the two seasons. The OHW was acidic (pH<7) in both seasons. The results are presented in figure 5.5 below:

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Figure 5.5: The pH result in the Normal Day’s Average and in Ramadan

As an overall observation and conclusion for the comparison of the OHW characteristics between two seasons in Bahrain in Muharraq Governorate, no significant differences were found between the normal days and Ramadan season in terms of the OHW characterization, except very slight differences in some heavy metals content and OM, which is still not considered significant and will impact the selection of the most suitable technology selection based on the OHW characterization as evidenced in the next section.