We congratulate Jenna Senecal for a well performed defence of her PhD thesis “Safe Nutrient Recovery from Human Urine – System and Hugiene Evaluation of Alkaline Urine Dehydration”. It was a great discussion with the opponent Professor Chris Buckley from University of KwaZulu Natal, followed by the discussion with the evaluation committee, Ana Soares Cranfield Water Sciences Institute, H.B. Wittgren VA-Syd & Sweden Water Research, Helvi Heinonen-Tanski University of Eastern Finland, Malgorzata Krzywonos WrocĹ‚aw University of Economics and Business and Sofia Boqvist SLU. If you missed it the event is available on the Energi och teknik Facebook page. The event was performed online as well as with an audience in the room, with social distance, in total there were 22 persons in the room listening and up to 36 persons following the dissertation online, it worked well, even if we were missing the interesting post seminar discussions with all involved persons.
Author: Prithvi Simha
36th month meeting for the Run4Life project
The 36 month meeting during June 2-3 for the run4life project was like everything else held like an online meeting. All presentations and discussions were made online. It was interesting to hear that all the pilot areas included in the project were progressing and people are moving into the separating houses in Helsingborg, Gent, Sneek and Vigo. We all looking forward to the final year of the project and the exciting results we will get from it.
Madeleine Fogde Honorary doctor at NJ faculty at SLU
Congratulations and welcome to SLU, we look forward to continue the collaboration in the future. Program Manager Madeleine Fogde is a trained teacher and currently program manager for the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative (Siani), which is coordinated by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). Siani has a broad membership base and is a very inclusive organization that offers an attractive network for people working with agricultural research globally. She has worked extensively with low-income countries in Africa, including in a water supply and ecological sanitation program in Mozambique. She has a large worldwide network in agriculture, sanitation and women’s organizations.
New publication on fate of Ascaris at various pH, temperature and moisture levels
A new study assessed the inactivation of Ascaris eggs under various conditions and observed that the exposure of Ascaris eggs to elevated pH (10.5–12.5) at temperatures <27.5 °C for >70 days had no effect on egg viability. To accelerate the inactivation of STH, an increase in the treatment temperature is more effective than pH increase. Alkaline pH alone did not inactivate the eggs but can enhance the effect of ammonia, which is likely to be present in organic wastes.
Follow the link to access the article: https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2020.264
Senecal, J., Nordin, A., & VinnerĂĄs, B. (2020). Fate of Ascaris at various pH, temperature and moisture levels. Journal of Water and Health.
PhD Defence of Jenna Senecal on June 11th at 9h00
On June 11th @ 9h00 Jenna Senecal will defend her thesis titled “Safe Nutrient Recovery from Human Urine – System and Hygiene Evaluation of Alkaline Urine Dehydration.” You are most welcome to watch the defence. One may come in person to Framtiden room in the MVM building at SLU (max 25 people) or join online.
For online viewing, one can stream it from facebook at our departmental webpage. Or join via zoom: https://slu-se.zoom.us/j/65645045319 with password: 528646
Process efficiency and ventilation requirement in BSFL composting of substrates with high water content
Our latest publication on BSFL composting entitled Process efficiency and ventilation requirement in black soldier fly larvae composting of substrates with high water content has been recently published in Science of the Total Environment. In this study we investigated the impact on increasing substrate water content on the process efficiency in black soldier fly larvae composting. We used the gathered data to make a model predicting the required ventilation for achieving a residue dry enough to allow for dry separation of larvae from treatment residue at the end of the composting. In contrast to what other studies have found, we fund that it is possible to BSFL compost substrates with water content 80 – 90 % and dry separate the larvae from the residue. For substrates with water content >90% it was more difficult, as the process efficiency decreased greatly, while the ventilation requirement increased.
New Publication on drying human urine using different alkaline media & temperatures
In a study recently published in Science of the Total Environment, we present results from a study that investigated drying of fresh source-separated human urine in five different alkaline media (pH > 11) at elevated temperatures (50 and 60 °C) with minimal loss of urea, urine’s principal nitrogen compound. We found that it was possible to concentrate urine 48 times, yielding dry end-products with high fertiliser value: approximately, 10% N, 1% P, and 4% K. We monitored the physicochemical properties and the composition of various dehydration media to provide useful insights into their suitability for dehydrating urine. We demonstrated that it is possible to recover >90% nitrogen when treating fresh urine by alkaline dehydration by inhibiting the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea at elevated pH and minimising the chemical hydrolysis of urea with high urine dehydration rates.
Online public PhD defence of Claudia Cossio on June 4
Claudia Cossio, who has been co-supervised by Jennifer McConville from our research group will present her PhD thesis on the 4th of June. The thesis is titled “A Journey towards Sustainable Small Wastewater Treatment Systems in Low and Lower–Middle Income Countries” and her focus has been on Bolivia.
Where: https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/68990184473
Link to thesis: https://research.chalmers.se/publication/516714/file/516714_Fulltext.pdf
Opponent: Associate Professor Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, UK
Ida Helgegren – PhD Defense on 19th May
Ida Helgegren, a PhD student at Chalmers who has been co-supervised by Jennifer McConville from our research group will present her thesis on 19th May. Her thesis title is “Understanding the Roles of Stakeholders in the Water and Sanitation Sector- Implementation and Operation of Water Supply and Sanitation Systems in the Kanata metropolitan region, Bolivia“.
When? 2020-05-19 at 10:00
Where? Zoom link to on-line defense: https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/65601700581
Link to thesis: https://research.chalmers.se/publication/516557
Opponent: Klaas Schwartz, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands
Comparing treatment options for nutrient-recovery from fecal sludge
The latest publication from our project in Uganda is on-line. We present a multi-criteria assessment method for planning and decision-making related to options for recovering nutrients from fecal sludge. We apply the method to the case of Kampala, Uganda. However, we start with a broad list of potential technologies and there are quite a few references for more information on these technologies – so the method and data should be interesting for other people interested in options for nutrient-recovery.
Read the full paper here: McConville, J. R., Kvarnström, E., Nordin, A. C., Jönsson, H., & Niwagaba, C. B. (2020). Structured Approach for Comparison of Treatment Options for Nutrient-recovery from Fecal Sludge. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 8, 36.