Abstract—The issue of sustainable urban wastewater management with an integrated economic and environmental approach is highly relevant, especially to developing countries such as Uzbekistan, which are faced with water resource scarcity and the effects of climate change. The objective of this research was to formulate and evaluate hybrid models of urban wastewater management in a bid to achieve a balance between economic and environmental goals. This study was conducted using a combination of methods, including cost-benefit analysis, life cycle assessment, field sampling, and software modeling, focusing on three major cities in Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. The results demonstrated that hybrid and natural systems, compared to conventional systems, can reduce life cycle costs by 30 to 50% and significantly improve key wastewater quality parameters by 40 to 60% (e.g., achieving BOD concentrations below 10 mg/L and total nitrogen below 8 mg/L). These systems also improved resource efficiency significantly by reducing energy consumption by 55 to 80% and increasing water recovery rates to more than 80%. Additionally, the combined sustainability index for hybrid systems showed a mark of 8.4 out of 10, which is significantly better than conventional systems. These findings confirm that the application of hybrid natural and engineered technologies is not only economically viable but also facilitates environmental reliability and resilience to climate change. It is therefore recommended that hybrid systems be integrated into national policy and urban planning in Uzbekistan to maximize progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
Keywords—urban wastewater management, hybrid systems, cost-benefit analysis, Uzbekistan, environmental indicators
Cite: Normat Durdiev, Maksud Fayzullaev, Barno Kurbonova, Sabina Nasirova, Tulkin Kuyliyev, and Kassem Jumma, " Managing Urban Wastewater Systems with an Economic and Environmental Approach," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 485-492, 2025.
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).