Ms Jihene Tayahi from the Mejez El Bab Engineering School successfully presented her dissertation to obtain the Rural Engineer Diploma on Monday 28 June 2021. 

During her stay at the Laboratory of Effluent Treatment and Valorization at the Centre des Recherches et des Technologies des Eaux (CERTE), she worked on preliminary experiments linked to the adaptation of AQUACYCLE’s eco-innovative wastewater treatment system (APOC) to the Tunisian context.

The APOC system consist of an anaerobic digestion reactor, constructed wetlands and a raceway pond for solar disinfection. The APOC system brings a cost-effective treatment of domestic wastewater with minimal costs of operation and maximum environmental benefits.

As an integral part of her research, Ms Tayahi’s conducted batch experiments to simulate the reactions occurring in the raceway pond for solar disinfection. Two Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) reactions were tested:

• The photo Fenton reaction; and
• Photocatalysis reaction using Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂)

In these experimental trials, Ms Jihene Tayahi used the wastewater collected from the Bent Saidane municipality which is located in the Zaghouan Governorate in Tunisia, where the APOC system is foreseen to be implemented.  Ms Jihene Tayahi is the third from the right person in the cover picture accompanying this news post.