Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation of the Level of Service of Agba Dam Water Treatment Plant

Abstract

This study addresses the critical need for a robust evaluation of water treatment plant performance, with a focus on the level of service at the Agba Dam Water Treatment Plant in Nigeria. The objective was to apply fuzzy set theory for objective assessment. The methodology involved collecting 1664 water quality parameter measurements, including pH, conductivity, turbidity, and total dissolved solids. Of these, 354 valid entries served as performance indicators. These data were integrated into a fuzzy synthetic evaluation model assessing service level against prescribed regulatory and expert limits. The key result showed water quality across all sampled parameters was consistently within limits, with mean values: pH = 7.15, conductivity = 176.62 ?S/cm, turbidity = 1.23 NTU, and total dissolved solids = 87.18 mg/L. Consequently, it's concluded that the Agba Dam Water Treatment Plant delivers an excellent level of service, scoring 2.75 on a defined 3-point fuzzy evaluation scale. This scale was explicitly defined using a Likert-type system with linguistic terms 'Poor', 'Good', and 'Excellent', and was validated by expert biochemists and principal scientists from the plant.