The indicator is a response indicator and is important for monitoring the success of policies implemented to control pollution from domestic wastewater.

Treatment of wastewater is an important practice to use water more efficiently and protect available water resources. As a result of the significant investments Turkey has made in this area, the percentage of municipalities served by wastewater treatment plants as a percentage of the total number of municipalities was percent 3 in 1994 and reached percent 51 in 2020. The percentage of the municipal population served by wastewater treatment plants reached percent 77.7of the total municipal population^[49].

GRAPH 77- NUMBER OF MUNICIPALITIES AND RATE OF POPULATION SERVED BY WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS (%)

Source: TURKSTAT, “Municipal Wastewater Statistics, 2020”

The total numberofwastewatertreatment plants, which was 145 in 2002, reached 1,068 at the end of 2020. Looking at the distribution of these plants, percent 21 of the wastewater treatment plants in our country are advanced wastewater treatment plants, percent 55 of them are biological wastewater treatment plants, percent 6 are physical wastewater treatment plants, and percent 18 are natural wastewater treatment plants.

GRAPH 78- DISTRIBUTION OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS BY TYPES BY THE END OF 2020

Source: TURKSTAT, “Water and Wastewater Statistics, 2020”

According to TURKSTAT, in 2020, percent 50.7 of wastewater in Turkey was treated with advanced processes, percent 27.1 with biological processes, percent 21.9 with physical processes, and percent 0.3 with natural processes^[50].

According to TURKSTAT, it has been determined that 314 thousand tons of wastewater treatment sludge (on dry matter basis) will be generated in wastewater treatment processes in Turkey in 2020.

In general, the excessive energy demand of wastewater treatment plants increases operational costs and negatively affects the operation of the plant. In this context, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change submits Energy Incentive Repayment Certificate to the plants whose application has been approved under the “By-Law for Subsidizing the Energy Costs of Wastewater Treatment Plants” to cover percent 50 of the energy costs of wastewater treatment plants. In this regard, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change made a support payment of 153 million TL to 628 plants in 2020 to ensure the effective operation of wastewater treatment plants and to improve the quality of receiving waters.

GRAPH 79- ENERGY INCENTIVES FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS

Source: The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, General Directorate of Environmental Management, 2021