ITU prioritizes environmental protection, and the health and safety of people and communities.

Preventing alterations of ITU Pond freshwater ecosystems

·      ITU Pond harbor many species and habitats. ITU prevents alterations of the pond to protect its ecosystems.

·      ITU has water discharge guidelines and standards to prevent any leakage to the pond ecosystem (see below for details).

·      ITU also measure and monitor pond water to prevent chemical alterations. The parameters include:

-Total Nitrogen

-Total Phosphorus

-Nitrite Nitrogen

-Nitrate Nitrogen

-Ammonium Nitrogen

-Orthophosphate

-Conductivity

-pH

-Dissolved Oxygen

-Temperature

-Turbidity

-Secchi Disc

-Total Organic Carbon

-Fecal Coliform

-Chlorophyll a

Water Discharge Guidelines and Standards

ITU Water Management Directive aims to manage the water, including alternative water sources such as rainwater and greywater in a sustainable manner as well as ensuring waste water disposal without posing any risks on human health and environmental sanitation.

The directive covers the disposal of wastewaters without causing any human health and environmental sanitation problems by means of implementation of proper wastewater collection and disposal systems when wastewater is not reclaimed (Article 2d).

The waters (water obtained from city networks, grey water, rainwater, wastewater) used in all campuses, within the responsibility and authority of the ITU are managed in accordance with the following principles (Article 5):

·      It is essential to determine and record the amount of water used by the units, to minimize water use, and to reduce water losses and leakages.

·      It is essential to treat grey water and rainwater in a way that minimizes the possible negative effects on human health and the environment, and to determine/measure the treated/used amount of grey water and rainwater.

·      It is essential to provide drainage and disposal of wastewaters, other than reclaimed wastewater such as grey water, through wastewater collection channels without causing any adverse impacts on human health and the environment.

ITU also embodies İSKİ Drinking Water Basin Regulation

Protection of the environment from wastewater and pollution

ITU as a body has a Water Management Directive , which protects water resources on the campus and prevents polluted water from entering the water system. The whole generated wastewater is collected from the buildings and conveyed out of the campus. The collected wastewater is received by Baltalimanı Wastewater Treatment Plant which is operated by Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration.

Clean water and sewerage disposal pipes are separated from each other in all infrastructure of ITU. The sewerage disposals of university campus are transported directly to the municipality’s Sewerage Treatment Center (ISKI Baltalimanı WWTP) with manholes. ISKI Baltalimanı WWTP now in operation to increase waste treatment level to “advanced treatment” (nutrient recovery etc.).

The biological wastewater treatment plant (Treated with tertiary treatment), established on an area of 4 hectares, has a capacity of 600,000 m3/day, serving the same population of 2.4 million. In addition, it has a pre-treatment unit with a capacity of 1.3 million m3/day in order to report the flow rate of the room with excessive rainfall.

In the facility, biogas will be obtained by decomposing the wastewater sludge formed after the biological treatment process, and electricity and heat energy will be produced by burning gas engines in the cogeneration units of this biogas. In this way, the majority of electricity and heat energy production will be met. In order to obtain biogas from wastewater, 6 Sludge Digester Tanks with a capacity of 10,000 m3, a volume of 42 m and a width of 25 m were built. Egg Section, which has high biogas production efficiency, was used for the first time in Turkey in the construction of sludge digester tanks. The facility leaks approximately 70,000 tons of sludge annually.

The work of transforming the Baltalimanı Pre-Treatment Plant, which was put into service by İSKİ in Baltalimanı in 1997, into a Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant is in full swing. Within the scope of the facility, the construction of which started in 2017, the construction works of the pre-treatment units have been completed. The facility, which draws attention with its 6 egg-shaped reinforced concrete Digestion Tanks, applied for the first time in Turkey, produces 44 thousand Nm3 of biogas per day. The Sludge Drying Unit turns the sludge cake with a capacity of 600 tons/day with 25% DM content into the final product with a dry matter content of at least 45% DM.

Waste Disposal Guidelines and Standards

ITU Waste Management Directive and Waste Management Directive Implementation Principles regulates the principles regarding the collection and removal of wastes (primarily

chemicals, medical wastes, biological wastes and radioactive wastes originated from

education/production, service units and research laboratories, office wastes, electrical and

electronic wastes) generated in education/training, research, production and service units within the responsibility of the ITU Rectorate in a way that will not harm human and environmental health.

The waste disposal procedures include following steps:

1)    Identification and Definition of Wastes

Waste is defined as "any substance or material that is thrown or released into the environment or has to be disposed of by its producer or the real or legal person who actually holds it".

Types of wastes:

·      Domestic waste

·      Paper and packaging waste

·      Radioactive waste

·      Hazardous waste

·      Non-hazardous waste

·      Medical waste

Hazardous wastes are types of wastes that are harmful to the environment and human health.

Hazardous wastes include:

·      Solvents

·      Acids

·      Alkaline

·      Pesticides

·      Oils and fats

·      Paint, inks, adhesives containing hazardous substances

·      Detergents containing hazardous substances

 

2)   Temporary Storage of Wastes

·      Wastes are temporarily stored according to their types in the place where they are generated.

·      The hazardous or non-hazardous waste label, waste code, amount of waste stored and date of storage should be included on the container.

·      Wastes should be stored in such a way that they do not react with each other and do not harm human and environmental health.

3)   Collection of Hazardous Wastes

      ITU Workplace Health And Safety Unit Waste Management Procedure states that:

·      Hazardous wastes are collected separately from other wastes.

·      Hazardous wastes are never discharged into the sewage system,

·      Hazardous wastes are not released directly into the air,

·      Hazardous wastes are not burned at low temperatures,

·      Hazardous wastes are not mixed with domestic wastes,

·      Hazardous wastes are not disposed of by storage.

4)   Moving Hazardous Wastes

·      Hazardous waste are delivered to licensed waste carriers.

·      Hazardous and medical wastes are collected and transported by personnel wearing masks, gloves, goggles and orange-colored special clothing in accordance with the standards specified in the relevant regulations.

·      The special clothing in question is used only during the collection and transportation of wastes.

·      Hazardous and domestic wastes are not transported in the same transportation vehicle. If they are mixed, they are all considered hazardous waste.

·      In case of any accidents during the transportation of hazardous waste, the personnel assigned for cleaning must wear special gloves, protective glasses, masks; boots and special protective orange clothing specified in the relevant regulations and must immediately collect the spilled hazardous or medical waste in a safe manner and disinfect the place and vehicle.

·      Special clothing and equipment used in transportation and cleaning are kept in a separate place.