Salar Wastewater Plant Eliminates Odors with New Filtration
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Filtering equipment worth 9.5 billion soums has been installed at the Salar wastewater treatment plant in Tashkent to eliminate unpleasant odors, according to the press service of the Tashkent Khokimiyat. The equipment has been operational for more than 15 days, resulting in the disappearance of the odor around the facility.
According to the municipal administration, the wastewater basins have been hermetically sealed, and the air formed inside passes through a specialized filtration system. Dunanbay Kazibekov, chief technologist at Toshkent Shahar Suv Taminoti, said the second-stage treatment facility receives wastewater from the Sergeli, Yangihayot, Mirobod, and Yashnabod districts. The installed equipment was delivered from Russia.
Kazibekov explained that a fan draws air from the closed basins through 11.5 metric tons of catalytic sorbent material. The air is then ozonated and oxidized under ultraviolet radiation before passing through a 2.5-ton layer of activated carbon. As a result, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia in the exhausted air is reduced to zero, according to the chief technologist. The Khokimiyat noted that local residents confirmed the disappearance of the odor.
The issue was previously addressed at the highest government level, with the President directing officials to eliminate the unpleasant odor affecting the Sergeli and Yangihayot districts by 1 September 2026. Discharges of wastewater and waste by industrial enterprises into the aeration station and the Bozsu Canal were previously identified as the primary cause of the odor in the Uzgarish neighborhood of the Sergeli district.
A draft government resolution was previously developed by a Senate committee to reconstruct local industrial treatment facilities and relocate five tanneries outside Tashkent. Parallel urban wastewater projects were also planned, including a project by the UAE-based Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company to begin construction of a new treatment plant for Tashkent in January 2024. Plans were announced in August 2024 to construct a new wastewater treatment facility in the Tashkent region with a daily processing capacity of 1 million cubic meters, implemented by a consortium of companies from the UAE, France, and Japan, to provide centralized sewage access to over 500,000 residents and 100 enterprises.
