MULTI-CRITERIA EVALUATION OF ADVANCED DRINKING WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES USING ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP) AND TECHNIQUE FOR ORDER OF PREFERENCE BY SIMILARITY TO IDEAL SOLUTION (TOPSIS)

Nnaemeka Attah; Chidozie Nnaji

doi:10.4314/njt.v44i3.2

Authors

N.M Attah Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
C. C. Nnaji Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Johannesburg https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7575-6978

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/njt.v44i3.2

Keywords:

Technology evaluation, water treatment technologies, drinking water treatment, criteria weighting

Abstract

How to render unsafe water potable is a chief priority for most governments and people. This has brought about the evolution of water treatment technologies. This article provides a review of these technologies and the criteria for selecting them, and uses the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach to rank each set and select the best technology and the most important criterion. It employed two MCDM methods to quantitatively evaluate ten water treatment technologies with regard to ten criteria for selection. Data were obtained from available literature and applied to analyze the technologies and assess the effect of the criteria on them in any location under the same circumstances by pairwise comparison. The technologies were rated against the criteria on a 5-point Likert scale. The absolute values obtained were used to generate relative ones by comparing the technologies and the criteria on Saaty’s 9-point Scale of Relative Importance. Pairwise comparison matrices were formed and weighted. A global matrix was computed from which the final rankings were obtained. AHP ranked electrodialysis highest, followed by electrodialysis reversal while TOPSIS ranked ion exchange technology highest, followed by electrodialysis reversal. For the criteria, economy and efficiency were found to be the most influential while legal aspects was the least. This means that electrodialysis reversal is the best among the ranked technologies with regard to the criteria for selection considered while economy and efficiency are the most important criteria. Hence, the study proposes electrodialysis reversal for municipal, commercial and private water treatment.

Author Biography

C. C. Nnaji, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Johannesburg

Professor of water resources engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Johannesburg.

References

[1] Humanitarian Global Institute, “Global availability of fresh water,” 2021. Retrieved from http://www.humanitarianglobal.com. [Accessed: August 16, 2025.]

[2] Sojobi, A. O. Owamah, H. I. and Dahunsi, S. O. “Comparative study of household water treatment in a rural community in Kwara State Nigeria,” Nigerian Journal of Technology, 33(1), pp. 134-140, 2014. http://doi.org/10.4314/njt.v33j1.18.

[3] World Economic Forum, “The freshwater crisis,” 2023. Retrieved from http://www.worldgbc.org, [Accessed: August 16, 2025.]

[4] Denchak, M. “Water pollution: everything you need to know,” NRDC, 21, pp 1-4, 2023. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org. [Accessed: February 2, 2024.]

[5] Modupe, A. Oluwatobi, F. Onofua, O. E. and Afolabi, M. S. “Adsorption of impurities from irrigation wastewater using activated carbon produced from selected biomass,” Journal of Basic and Applied Research International, 28(4), pp. 33-43, 2022. DOI: 10.56557/JOBARI/2022/v28147875.

[6] Van Dijk, J. C. and Van der Kooij, D. “Water quality: 21 research programmes for water supplies in the Netherlands,” Water Science Technology, 4(5), pp. 181-188, 2004. DOI: 10.2166/ws.2004.0107.

[7] Ogwueleka, T. C. and Ogwueleka, F. N. “Optimization of drinking water treatment processes using artificial neural network,” Nigerian Journal of Technology, 28(1), pp. 16-25, 2009. https://doi.org/10.4314/njt.281.125.

[8] Zhang, R. “Application of multi-criteria decision analysis in enterprise risk management,” Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 14(1), pp. 3192-3201, 2024. DOI:10.4236/ojapps.2024.1411210.

[9] Nnaji, C. C. and Banigo, A. “Multi-criteria evaluation of sources for self-help domestic water,” Applied Water Science, 8, pp. 4–12, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0657-2.

[10] Ankon, S. B. Nishat, E A. and Riana, M. M. “Sustainability assessment of community-based water supply projects: a multi-criteria decision approach,” Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 19(Issues 3-4): 100849, pp. 158-176, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.gsd.2022.100849.

[11] Srdjevic, B. Srdjevic, Z. and Suvocarev, K. “Multi-criteria evaluation of wastewater treatment technologies in constructed wastelands,” European Water, 58(3), pp. 165–171, 2017. cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.5555/20183301297.

[12] Prieto-Jimenez, D. Oviedo-Ocana, E. R. and Dominguez, I. C. “A multicriteria decision analysis for selecting rainwater harvesting systems in rural areas: a tool for developing countries,” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31(29), pp. 42476-42491, 2024. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33734-8.

[13] Han, F. Alkhawaji, R. N. and Shafieezadeh, M. M. “Evaluating sustainable water management strategies using TOPSIS and fuzzy TOPSIS methods,” Applied Water Science, 15(1), pp. 1012-1029, 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s13201-024-02336-7.

[14] Nedjar, N. H. Djebbar, Y. and Djemili, L. “Application of the analytic hierarchy process for planning the rehabilitation of water distribution networks,” Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, 41(4), pp. 518-538, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1108/AGJSR-07-2022-0110

[15] Cescon, A. and Jiang, J. “Filtration process and alternative filter media material in water treatment,” Water, 12(12), pp. 3377-3395, 2020. DOI: 10.3390/w12123377.

[16] Treacy, J. “Drinking water treatment and challenges in developing countries,” in The Relevance of Hygiene to Health in Developing Countries, pp. 1-12, 2019. DOI;10.5772/INTECHOPEN.80780. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net. [Accessed: February 2, 2024.]

[17] Abdelhamid, C. Latrach, A. Rabiei, M. and Venugopal, K. “Produced water treatment technologies: a review,” Energies, 18(1), pp. 63-87, 2025. DOI: 10.3390/en18010063.

[18] Srivastava, R. R. Singh, P. K. and Hung, Y. “A multi-criteria approach to appropriate treatment technology selection for water reclamation,” Waste Treatment in the Biotechnology, Agricultural and Food Industries, pp. 133-183, 2023. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-44768-6_4.

[19] Pant, S. Kumar, A. Ram, M. Klochkov, Y. and Sharma, H. “Consistency indices in analytic hierarchy process: a review,” Mathematics, 10(8), 1206-1223, 2022. DOI:10.3390/math10081206.

[20] Dalei, N. N. Shekhar, A. and Jha, K. D. “Assessment of critical success factors for PPP airports using the AHP,” International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, 20(3), 124-141, 2024. DOI: 10.1504/IJCIS.2024.10062163.

[21] Madanchian, M. and Taherdoost, H. “A comprehensive guide to the TOPSIS method for multi-criteria decision making,” Sustainable Social Development, 1(1), pp 129-147, 2023. DOI:10.54517/ssd.v1i1.2220.

[22] Khalaf, M. S. and Mansor, M. “Building a framework for managing sustainable prefabricated construction systems: using analytical network process,” Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development, 29(1), pp. 384-397, 2025. https://doi.org/10.31272/jeasd.2446.

[23] Foulad, R. Amellah, S. Jebli, S. Sahib, A. and Bouaziz, A. “Cost of quality: Literature review, correspondence between models, and a call for a paradigm shift,” International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 10(2), pp. 39-49, 2023. https://doi.org/10.218.33/IJAAS.2023.02.006.

[24] European Water Regulators, “Water quality and regulation,” WAREG Newsletter, Water Basics Series, 8, 2023.

[25] Srivastava, R. R. and Singh, P. K. “Reuse-focused selection of appropriate technologies for municipal wastewater treatment: a multi-criteria approach,” International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 19(12), pp. 12505-12522, 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s13762-021-03803-3.

[26] Festus, B. Taleat, A. A. T. Olaoluwa, D. T. and Oladapo, A. S. “Water and wastewater treatment in developed and developing countries: present experience and future plans,” Smart Nanomaterials for Environmental Applications, pp. 351-385, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-443-21794-4.00030-2. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net. [Accessed: August 21, 2025.]

[27] Rajbongshi, A. and Gogoi, S. “Microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration as a post-treatment of biological treatment process with references to oil field produced water of Moran oilfield of Assam,” Petroleum Research, 9(1), pp. 10-16, 2023. DOI:10.1016/j.ptlrs.2023.09.001.

[28] Zolghadr-Asli, B. McIntyre, B. Djordjevic, S. Farmani, R, “A review of limitations and potentials of desalination as a sustainable source of water,” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(8), pp. 1-14, 2023. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-30662-x.

[29] Vourdoubas, I. “Use of renewable energy sources for water desalination in Crete, Greece: a SWOT analysis,” Engineering and Technology Journal, 10(7), pp. 5833-5843, 2025. DOI: 10.47191/etj/v10i07.31

[30] Zhao, Y. Zhang, M. Liu, Z. Ma, J. Yang, F. Guo, H. and Fu, Q. “How human activities affect groundwater storage,” Research, 27(7), pp. 341-369, 2024. DOI: 10.34133/research.0369

[31] Scanlon, B. R. Fakhreddine, S. Rateb, A. de Graaf, I. Famiglietti, J. Gleeson, T. Grafton, R. Q. Jobbagy, E. Kebede, S. and Kolusu, S. R. “Global water resources and the role of groundwater in a resilient water future,” Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, 4(5), pp. 87-101, 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s43017-023-00418-9.

[32] Ekmekcioglu, O. Koc, K. Dabanli, I. and Deniz, A. “Prioritizing urban water scarcity mitigation strategies based on hybrid multi-criteria decision approach under fuzzy environment,” Sustainable Cities and Society, 87(12), p. 104195, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2022.104195.

[33] Mutikanga, H. E. Sharma, S. and Vairavamoorthy, K. “Multi-criteria decision analysis: a strategic planning tool for water loss management,” Water Resources Management, 25(4), pp. 3947–3969, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-011-9896-9. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net. [Accessed: July 29, 2021]

[34] Abdelkareem, M. A. Al Radi, M. Mahmoud, M., Sayed, E. T., Salameh, T., Alqadi, R., Kais, E. A. and Olabi, A. G. “Recent progress in wind energy-powered desalination,” Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, 47(1), p. 102286, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.tsep.2023.102286.