Page 195 - 7. State Of Environment Report Of Türkiye

of wastewater in many areas such as agriculture and industry and to encourage reuse.

In this context, it is aimed to increase the utilization rate of treated wastewater with the fol-
lowing:

y With the revision of the Environmental Law No. 2872, the reimbursement rate of up to 50%
of the electrical energy used in wastewater treatment plants is paid to organizations that
reuse wastewater treated with advanced treatment techniques, with an increase up to
100% according to the reuse rate;

y With the revision of the By-law on Water Pollution Control, it is obligatory for metropolitan
municipalities and provincial municipalities to prepare feasibility reports in order to deter-
mine the reuse potential of at least 10% of the total wastewater treated in urban wastewa-
ter treatment plants for agricultural irrigation and recreational purposes as well as industri-
al, environmental and other areas and the necessary investment needs;

y With the revision of the Communiqué on Technical Procedures for Wastewater Treatment
Plants, the reuse areas of treated wastewater will be expanded to include landscaping and
agricultural irrigation, industrial use, groundwater and surface water supply, recreational
uses, domestic and industrial applications.

Within the scope of sectoral studies, studies on clean production and reuse of treated wastewa-
ter are carried out primarily in the textile sector, where water consumption is the most intensive
and pollution load is high, and the “Clean Production Practices in the Textile Sector” project was
carried out by the MoEUCC in 2021 in order to bring the standards in the textile sector to inter-
national level and improve environmental indices. Within the scope of the project, prototypes
have been developed that provide colour removal and salt recovery in dye bath wastewater
without changing the existing process flow in dyeing textile enterprises, and with the “Circular
on Cleaner Production Practices in the Textile Sector No. 2022/20”, Best Available Techniques
for reuse of wastewater, reduction of pollution and minimisation of water use have been made
mandatory.

Wastewater Treatment Action Plan

The “By-law on Identification of Sensitive Water Bodies and Areas Affecting These Bodies and Im-
provement of Water Quality” entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette dated
23.12.2016 and numbered 29927, and taking into account the urban sensitive areas identified by
the said By-law, the “Wastewater Treatment Action Plan” published by the MoEUCC in 2015 was
updated for the years 2017-2023 and the plans for wastewater management were included in the
said action plan.

Within the period of 2017-2023 Wastewater Treatment Action Plan, studies have started to be
carried out with the aim of operating wastewater treatment plants in line with the circular eco-
nomy approach, contributing to climate and sustainability targets, resource and energy efficient,
protecting water resources and saving water by reducing the amount of wastewater discharged
to receiving environments.

The sensitive areas in the annex of the “By-law on Identification of Sensitive Water Bodies and
Areas Affecting These Bodies and Improvement of Water Quality”, which aims to identify sensitive
water areas for the implementation of the By-law on Urban Wastewater Treatment, have been

194