Phosphorus recycling from waste activated sludge using the hydrothermal platform: Recovery, solubility and phytoavailability.

To address the grand challenge of increasing the sustainability of wastewater treatment plants, hydrothermal carbonization was studied as a nutrient recovery platform, transforming sludge into a valuable hydrochar. Carbonization was achieved at different temperatures (200-300 °C) and durations (30-120 min). The highest mass recovery (73%) was observed in the lowest temperature, while the lowest (49%) was obsereved at the highest temperature. Under all reaction conditions, phosphorus recovery values exceeded 80%, with the dominated fraction of inorganic-P in the hydrochar being HCl-extractable. Although HCl-extractable P is considered a moderately labile P fraction, P phytoavailability assays indicate that sewage sludge hydrochar is an excellent source for P, surpassing soluble P, likely due to its slow-release nature. We postulate that polyphosphates constitute a significant portion of this P pool. Overall, we emphasize the benefits of using HTC as a circular economy approach to convert sludge into a valuable hydrochar.

Subcritical water extraction as a circular economy approach to recover energy and agrochemicals from sewage sludge.

Global population growth is creating severe pressure on wastewater treatment plants, and specifically on sludge management. Meanwhile, the global challenge of achieving food-security requires the development of green pest control practices that maximize crop productivity. The hydrothermal technology, using subcritical water as the conversion media has been intensively studied, mostly for energy recovery purposes. Here, we focused on the aqueous phase by-product of this process and studied the subcritical water extraction of sewage sludge to recover valuable agrochemicals, with high potential of pre-emergent herbicidal activity. Full characterization of hydrothermal extracts from different reaction temperatures (200-300 °C) and times (30-120 min) highlighted the formation of pyrazine derivatives. Seed germination bioassays with three different species suggested a positive correlation between reaction temperature and extract herbicidal activity. Moreover, differences in seed viability and final root elongation between the tested crop (Trriticum aestivum) and weeds (Lapidium sativum and Amaranthus palmeri) may indicate the competitive abilities that can play a key role in weed management. Our results suggest that subcritical water can be applied as a green solvent for extracting a valuable agrochemical from sewage sludge and improving the circular economy for wastewater treatment.

Future liasing of the lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic: The dawn is expected at hand from the darkest hour.

The lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic has converted the world into new experimental laboratories, which may reveal temporal or spatial comparative analysis data. However, some startling information is gathered in terms of reduced premature mortality cases associated with air and water quality improvement, enhanced e-learning on a broader platform, work from home, and successful e-health. The decline in vehicular density on roads and congestion leads to reduced energy consumption and associated greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants emission. The lockdown has also been identified as a possible emergency measure to combat severe air pollution episodes. Similarly, industrial pollution has been recognized as one of the primary causes of water resource pollution and would, therefore, bring change in policy vis-à-vis groundwater pollution control. Our findings suggest that the results of successful e-learning and work from home would be a permanent shift from conventional modes in the near future due to a drastic reduction in socio-economic cost. Our critical analysis also highlights that with such temporary lockdown measures acute/chronic ill-effects of anthropogenic perturbations on planet earth can be effectively estimated through sociocultural, socioeconomical and socio-political/sociotechnological nexus.

Reduced sludge growth at high bulk liquor dissolved oxygen induced by increased secondary cell maintenance.

Sludge reduction by physico-chemical methods results in the buildup of chemicals, which may require further treatment. Owing these reasons various biologically sustainable methods of sludge reduction including the application of high oxygenation have been successfully tested. Experiments on actual sewage in two lab-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were conducted under normal (1.5-2.5 mgDO/L) and high dissolved oxygen (DO) (HDO: 3-6.5 mgDO/L) regimes. It was observed that microorganism allocated substrate between maintenance and growth in the form of maintenance coefficient. Which could be induced by endogenous respiration owing to high solids retention time (SRT), predation on bacteria, chemical toxicity, adverse environment, and viral attack on bacteria. The wastewater treatment process may experience one or more maintenance inducing factors; nevertheless, high SRT and prevailing environmental conditions are imminent and thus considered as primary maintenance (mp), while remaining are classified as secondary maintenance (ms). Average yield coefficient reduction at HDO was 32.7% and 28.2% compared to stoichiometric and at normal DO, respectively. The observed primary and secondary maintenance was 0.11gCOD/gVSS.d (±0.01) at an SRT of 25.2 d (±2.0) and 0.096 g 0.1 gCOD/gVSS.d (±0.045) at an SRT of 24.2 d (±3.6d), respectively. The results obtained under the study are not as precise as on pure culture and defined substrate, nevertheless, it gives an idea that how stress factors inducing maintenance need to be addressed more seriously and objectively while managing our efforts on sludge reduction.

Effect of thermal pre-treatment on co-digestion of duckweed (Lemna gibba) and waste activated sludge on biogas production.

The duckweeds (DW) are considered as a major problem in tropical aquatic system as they grow very fast and produce enormous rich-biomass, which can be harvested for renewable energy operations. But complex lignocellulosic compounds limit their utility in process like anaerobic digestion. This batch study aimed to analyse characteristics (proximate, ultimate and physico-chemical) and possible utility of DW for anaerobic co-digestion with waste activated sludge (WAS) under mesophilic conditions for 35 d. Two sets of experiment were tested: substrate with and without thermal pre-treatment. Five combinations of DW: WAS (70:20, 60:20, 50:20, 40:20 and 30:20%) were established and biomethanation along with changes in pH, volatile solids (VS), volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) of digestate were recorded. The total CH4 yield (mL CH4 g-1 VS) ranged between 60 and 468 for pre-treated, and 9 and 76 for non-pre-treated. The maximum CH4 yield was 468 mL CH4g-1 VS in DW: WAS (50:20). Thermally treated setups, showed about 13-, 24.1-, 21.1-, 1.4-, and 2.3-fold higher CH4 than non-treated setups. The treated mixtures showed high reduction of SCOD (>41-96) and VS (>59-98%) in co-digesters. The high degree of Gompertz curve fitting (R2 > 0.99) has suggested pre-treatment of substrate for optimal outputs of co-digester. Based on results obtained, it is suggested that DW (50-60% in digester) can be used as renewable energy resource for biomethanation process after thermal pre-treatment.

Nutrient changes and biodynamics of Eisenia fetida during vermicomposting of water lettuce (Pistia sp.) biomass: a noxious weed of aquatic system.

This paper reports the results of vermicomposting of water lettuce biomass (WL) spiked with cow dung at ratios of 20, 40, 60, and 80 % employing Eisenia fetida. A total of four treatments were established and changes in chemical properties of mixtures were observed. Vermicomposting caused a decrease in pH, TOC, volatile solids, and C/N ratio by 1.01-1.08-fold, 0.85-0.92-fold, 0.94-0.96-fold, 0.56-0.70-fold, respectively, but increase in EC, totN, totP, totK, totCa, totZn, totFe, and totCu, by 1.19-1.42-fold, 1.33-1.68-fold, 1.38-1.69-fold, 1.13-1.24-fold, 1.04-1.11-fold, 1.16-1.37-fold, 1.05-1.113-fold, 1.10-1.27-fold, respectively. Overall, the treatment with 60-80 % of WL showed the maximum decomposition and mineralization rates. The earthworm showed the growth and reproduction rate in considerable ranges in all treatment setups but setups with 60-80 % WL proportion exhibited the optimum results. Results reveal that biomass of water lettuce can be utilized effectively for production of valuable manure through vermicomposting system.

Performance assessment of different STPs based on UASB followed by aerobic post treatment systems.

This paper present the experiences gained from the study of ten up flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) based sewage treatment plants (STPs) of different cities of India. Presently 37 UASB based STPs were under operation and about 06 UASB based STPs are under construction and commissioning phase at different towns. The nature of sewage significantly varied at each STP. Two STP were receiving sewage with high sulfate and heavy metals due to the mixing of industrial waste. The treatment performance of all UASB reactors in terms of BOD, COD and TSS were observed between 55 to 70% respectively. The post treatment units down flow hanging sponge (DHS) and Aeration followed by activated sludge process (ASP) at two STPs were performing well and enable to achieve the required disposal standards. Results indicate the effluent quality in terms of BOD and SS were less than 30 and 50 mg/L and well below the discharging standards.

Continuous fill intermittent decant type sequencing batch reactor application to upgrade the UASB treated sewage.

The performance of continuous flow intermittent decant type sequencing batch (CFID) reactor treating the effluent of an UASB reactor treating domestic wastewater and operated at 8 h hydraulic retention time (HRT) was investigated. The CFID was operated at three different HRTs (22, 8 and 6 h) and three different dissolved oxygen (DO) patterns (<0.5, 2.5-3.5 and 3.5-4.5 mg/L). The highest effluent quality was observed at the 8 h HRT and 2.5-3.5 mg/L DO concentration. At this operational condition, the average BOD, TSS, ammonia nitrogen and fecal coliform removal efficiencies were 83, 90, 74 and 99 %, respectively. The CFID is a promising post-treatment option for existing UASB systems, with a final effluent quality that comply with receiving water and effluent reuse criteria.

Submerged aerated bio-filter (SAB)--a post treatment option for UASB effluent treating sewage.

This paper presents exploratory results of the performance of submerged aerated bio-filter (SAB-1.5 L) for the post treatment of UASB effluent treating sewage in order to bring the effluent quality in compliance with discharge standards. The study was carried out in three stages with varied dissolved oxygen (DO) levels of 0 to 2.0, 2.0 to 4.0, 4.0 to 6.0 and > 6.0 mg/L. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) and hydraulic loading rate (HLR) were maintained 0.67 h & 0.1 m3/ m2 x h respectively in all stage of study. The performance in terms of BOD removal efficiency was increased with increase in DO levels. Results revealed that the average BOD and SS removal efficiencies in phases 3 and 4 were 51.3 and 59.5% and 58.8 and 67.5% respectively. Significant ammonical nitrogen (NH4-N) removal of 60% was observed in phase 4. The BOD and SS in phases 3 and 4 were reduced to well below the effluent disposal standards. The SAB at DO ≥ 4 mg/L can be considered a viable alternative for the post treatment of effluent from UASB treating domestic wastewater.

Effects of multi-metal toxicity on the performance of sewage treatment system during the festival of colors (Holi) in India.

The present study investigated the effects of heavy metals (Ni, Zn, Cd, Cu, and Pb) toxicity on the performance of 18 MLD activated sludge process-based sewage treatment plant (STP) during celebration of Holi (festival of colors in India). The composite sampling (n = 32) was carried out during the entire study period. The findings show a significant decrease in chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency (20%) of activated sludge system, after receiving the heavy metals laden wastewater. A significant reduction of 40% and 60% were observed in MLVSS/MLSS ratio and specific oxygen uptake rate, which eventually led to a substantial decrease in biomass growth yield (from 0.54 to 0.17). The toxic effect of metals ions was also observed on protozoan population. Out of the 12 mixed liquor species recorded, only two ciliates species of Vorticella and Epistylis exhibited the greater tolerance against heavy metals toxicity. Furthermore, activated sludge shows the highest metal adsorption affinity for Cu, followed by Zn, Pb, Ni, and Cd (Cu > Zn > Pb > Ni > Cd). Finally, this study proves the robustness of activated sludge system against the sudden increase in heavy metal toxicity since it recovered the earlier good quality performance within 5 days.

UASB/flash aeration enable complete treatment of municipal wastewater for reuse.

A simple, efficient and cost-effective method for municipal wastewater treatment is examined in this paper. The municipal wastewater is treated using an upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor followed by flash aeration (FA) as the post-treatment, without implementing aerobic biological processes. The UASB reactor was operated without recycle, at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h and achieved consistent removal of BOD, COD and TSS of 60-70% for more than 12 months. The effect of FA on UASB effluent post-treatment was studied at different HRT (15, 30 and 60 min) and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (low DO = 1-2 mg/L and high DO = 5-6 mg/L). The optimum conditions for BOD, COD and sulfide removal were 30-60 min HRT and high DO concentration inside the FA tank. The final effluent after clarification was characterized by BOD and COD values of 28-35 and 50-58 mg/L, respectively. Sulfides were removed by more than 80%, but the fecal coliform only by ~2 log. The UASB followed by FA is a simple and efficient process for municipal wastewater treatment, except for fecal coliform, enabling water and nutrients recycling to agriculture.