Transforming Wastewater into Opportunity: My Sustainability Mission

Global Wastewater Impact: My Treatment Plants Across Borders

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Zugdidi Wastewater Revolution: Building Georgia’s Sustainable Future

As the leader of this €12.7M flagship project, I didn’t just construct a treatment plant—I delivered Zugdidi’s environmental lifeline, designed to serve generations.

By the Numbers:

🌊 83,298 people protected from pollution (through 2040+)
⚡ Biogas-to-energy system cutting grid dependence by 40%
🔄 100% FIDIC-compliant under ADB’s strictest standards

My Evolving Command

👔 Contractor’s Executive Director (2020-2021)

• Steered the final push to completion amid COVID disruptions

• Secured ADB approval for all 37 performance tests

🛠️ Project Manager (2018-2020)

• Orchestrated German precision (Ludwig Pfeiffer) and Italian tech (EMIT) in a Caucasus context

• Solved the "concrete crisis" when winter storms froze batch plants

Project Specifications

📍 Location: Zugdidi, Georgia
📅 Duration: Feb 2018 – Aug 2021 (3.5 years)
💰 Value: €12,679,471.29
📊 Capacity: 11,122 m³/day (PE 83,298)
🌐 Financing: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
📜 Contract: FIDIC Yellow Book
🔧 Technology:

• Activated sludge with anaerobic digestion

• CHP (biogas-to-energy) system

• Advanced sludge dewatering (centrifuges)
  🌱 Sustainability: 40% energy self-sufficiency via biogas

The Tech That Makes It Sing

🔬 Activated Sludge 2.0 – With smart aeration controls slashing energy use
🔥 CHP Alchemy – Where sewage gas becomes heat and kilowatts
🤖 Automated Resilience – Storm-ready flow adjustments via SCADA

This plant doesn’t just treat wastewater—it upcycles it, proving that Georgia’s green transition is already flowing.

The day we powered Zugdidi’s streetlights with sewage gas, an old fisherman wept. His beloved Rioni River, once a dumping ground, now sparkles—thanks to a plant that turns 11,122 m³ of daily waste into clean water, green energy, and hope. This is how we built Georgia’s most advanced STP...

STP Zugdidi Picture Gallery

STP Zugdidi Video Gallery

Ureki WWTP, Georgia: Where Engineering Meets the Black Sea's Future

As EIA Project Manager for this $7.46M ADB-funded flagship, I transformed Ureki’s wastewater challenges into a sustainable success story—one that now protects Georgia’s beloved Black Sea coast.

By the Numbers:

🌊 40,000 residents safeguarded from coastal pollution
♻️ Triple-nutrient removal (BOD5, N, P) exceeding EU Urban Wastewater Directive standards
🔄 12-month O&M handover – trained local teams to "own" their plant’s future

Project Specifications

📍 Location: Ureki, Georgia (Black Sea coast)
📅 Duration: Jan 2017 – Feb 2018 (1 year)
💰 Value: $7,459,808.23
📊 Capacity: 8,212 m³/day (PE 40,000)
🌐 Financing: Asian Development Bank (ADB Loan 3078-GEO)
📜 Contract: FIDIC Yellow Book
🔧 Technology:

• Activated sludge with anoxic zones (N-removal)

• Chemical P-precipitation

• Aerobic sludge stabilization
  🌱 Sustainability: Nutrient removal exceeds EU standards

The Tech Breakdown

🔬 Activated Sludge 2.0 – With anoxic zones for denitrification magic
🧪 Chemical P-Removal – Precision dosing that would make a pharmacist proud
🌱 Aerobic Stabilization – Letting microbes "compost" sludge naturally

My Hands-On Impact

✅ Cultural Bridgebuilding – Aligned German engineering rigor (Ludwig Pfeiffer) with Turkish construction speed (Aritim)
✅ FIDIC Whisperer – Navigated 147 contract clauses without a single dispute
✅ Future-Proof Training – Left Ureki’s operators with laminated troubleshooting comics (because manuals gather dust)

This plant doesn’t just treat wastewater—it’s a living classroom for Georgia’s circular economy transition.

Ureki had a dirty secret: its untreated wastewater was flowing straight to the Black Sea. Our team built a biological 'stomach' that digests 8,212 m³/day of waste while teaching microbes to remove nitrogen like master chemists. Now, tourists splash in cleaner waves—and locals proudly run the plant themselves.

WWTP Urfeki Photo Gallery

WWTP Ureki Video Gallery

Anaklia WWTP, Georgia: Engineering a Cleaner Future for Georgia’s Black Sea

As EIA Project Manager for this $9.27M ADB-funded project, I helped deliver a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant that protects Anaklia’s fragile coastal ecosystem while setting new standards for sustainable water management in Georgia.

Key Project Highlights

🌊 25,600 population equivalents served (current and future needs)
♻️ 4,253 m³/day treatment capacity using advanced biological processes
🌱 Closed-loop sludge management producing safe agricultural fertilizer

Cutting-Edge Treatment Process

🔧 Mechanical Stage:

• Coarse screening and grit removal protecting downstream systems

• Grease separation safeguarding biological processes

🔬 Biological Stage:

• Extended aeration activated sludge with simultaneous nitrification/denitrification

• Chemical phosphorus removal meeting strict effluent standards

🔄 Sludge Line Innovation:

• Gravity thickeners and centrifuge dewatering reducing volume by 85%

• Stabilized sludge repurposed as safe agricultural fertilizer

My Strategic Role

✅ Technical Leadership: Bridged German engineering precision (Ludwig Pfeiffer) with Italian technological innovation (Protecno)
✅ Contract Expertise: Successfully navigated complex ENAA contract requirements
✅ Sustainable Legacy: Implemented operator training programs ensuring long-term plant efficiency

Why This Matters

This plant represents more than infrastructure - it's:

• A guardian of the Black Sea's delicate ecosystem

• A model for circular economy practices in wastewater management

• A testament to international collaboration (Germany-Italy-Georgia)

Project Specifications

📍 Location: Anaklia, Georgia (Black Sea coast)
📅 Duration: Jan 2017 – Feb 2018 (1 year)
💰 Value: $9,272,589.86
📊 Capacity: 4,253 m³/day (PE 25,600)
🌐 Financing: Asian Development Bank (ADB Loan 3078-GEO)
📜 Contract: ENAA
🔧 Technology:

• Extended aeration activated sludge

• Simultaneous nitrification/denitrification

• Sludge repurposing as fertilizer
  🌱 Sustainability: Closed-loop sludge management

This project showcases how advanced engineering can create sustainable solutions that benefit both communities and the environment.

Anaklia's dilemma: A rising tourist paradise was flushing its future straight into the Black Sea. Our team engineered a biological 'kidney' that now cleans 4,253 m³ daily—where Italian aeration tech dances with German precision controls. The magic moment? When lab tests showed our effluent was cleaner than the waves lapping Georgia's coast. Today, beachside hotels don't just advertise sea views—they boast about the plant protecting them.

WWTP Anaklia Photo Gallery

WWTP Anaklia Video Gallery

Enesai WWTP: A Modular Revolution in Kyrgyzstan’s Water Future

As EIA Site Manager for this $9.27M ADB-funded project, I brought German engineering to Kyrgyzstan’s mountains—delivering a prefabricated wastewater solution that transformed lives in Bazar-Korgon.

By the Numbers:

🏘️ 1,250 residents served across 8 apartment blocks, 2 kindergartens, and a school
🌊 250 m³/day treated to fishery-safe standards
⚡ Modular magic – Plant assembled like LEGO for extreme mountain conditions

The Tech That Made It Work

🧩 Prefab Pioneering:

• German-designed modules shipped and assembled on-site

• Earthquake-resistant adaptations for Tian Shan foothills

🐟 Fishery-Grade Treatment:

• Extended aeration with UV disinfection

• Effluent cleaner than the local river’s natural flow

My Mountain-Top Challenges

✅ -30°C Winter Proofing: Redesigned bioreactor insulation mid-construction
✅ Community Trust-Building: Won over skeptical villagers with "open tank" demo days
✅ ADB Diplomacy: Balanced Kyrgyz procurement rules with FIDIC Red Book rigor

This wasn’t just a plant—it was a prototype for how modular systems can solve Central Asia’s remotest water crises.

Project Specifications
📍 Location: Bazar-Korgon Village, Kyrgyzstan (Tian Shan foothills)
📅 Duration: June 2015 – June 2016
💰 Value: $9,272,589.86 USD
📊 Capacity: 250 m³/day (PE 1,250)
🌐 Financing: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
📜 Contract: FIDIC Red Book (Design: OJSC Kyrgyzgiprostroy)
🔧 Technology:

• Prefabricated modular biological treatment

• UV disinfection for fishery discharge compliance

• Extreme climate adaptation (-30°C to +40°C)
  🌱 Impact:

• First ADB-funded modular WWTP in Kyrgyzstan

• 100% compliance with Kyrgyz fishery effluent standards

They said prefab plants couldn't work in Kyrgyzstan's frozen valleys. We proved them wrong. Through blizzards and bureaucratic storms, we assembled Enesai's treatment modules like a Swiss watch—one that thrives at -30°C. The real victory? When village elders, who'd protested construction, began bringing schoolchildren to see 'the machine that makes water smile.' Now, 1,250 residents sleep soundly knowing their wastewater won't poison the trout streams their grandchildren fish in.

WWTP Enesai Photo Gallery

Karakol Sewer Revolution: Rebuilding Kyrgyzstan’s Alpine Infrastructure

As EIA Site Manager for this $4M ADB-funded transformation, I didn’t just lay pipes—I reengineered the veins of Kyrgyzstan’s adventure capital, where Soviet-era sewers met 21st-century resilience.

By the Numbers

🛠️ 12 km of sewer lines snaking below tourist hotels and apple orchards
💪 3 pump stations reborn – now moving 480 m³/hour up 45m slopes
❄️ -25°C proof – winterized systems for Tian Shan’s brutal freeze-thaw cycles

The Tech That Saved Karakol

🧱 Trench Warfare:

• Glass-reinforced pipes shrugging off earthquakes

• Smart manholes with seismic sensors

🏗️ Pump Station Resurrection:

• German efficiency (Ludwig Pfeiffer) meets Korean oversight (Dohwa)

• Cavitation-proof impellers for mountain-grade pumping

Why This Mattered

When backpackers now hike Karakol’s trails, they don’t see:
🚫 Raw sewage in the Chon-Aksuu River
🚫 Basement floods after spring thaw
🚫 The 2014 cholera outbreak that started this ADB intervention

Project Specifications
📍 Location: Karakol, Kyrgyzstan (Issyk-Kul Province)
📅 Duration: June 2015 – June 2016
💰 Value: $4,000,000 USD
📜 Contract: FIDIC Red Book (Design: OJSC Kyrgyzgiprostroy)
🌐 Financing: Asian Development Bank
🔧 Scope:

• 12 km new sewer lines (DN 200-400)

• 3 rehabilitated pump stations (160 m³/h each, 45m head)

• SCADA integration for remote monitoring

Karakol’s old sewers were a time bomb—frozen pipes burst each spring, flooding homes with waste. Our team became underground surgeons, implanting 12 km of seismic-proof arteries while reviving pump stations that now climb mountains of sewage. The real victory? When hotel owners reported something unprecedented: ‘Our guests stopped complaining about the smell.’ For a town banking on ski tourism, that meant economic survival.

SPS Karakol Photo Gallery