Blog from the Environmental Engineering Research Group at SLU
The eThekwini Municipality in the greater Durban region with its 80,000 urine diverting toilets is often highlighted as a success story for dry sanitation. In a recent presentation at SLU, Professor Chris Buckley, Head of the Pollution Research Group at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa reflected on the eThekwini case study.
Curious to know whether or not Professor Buckley believes urine diversion in Durban has exceeded the original vision? Click here to access the presentation
Municipalities are expected to provide solid waste management to their inhabitants, funded by tax revenue or/and waste treatment fees. In many low and middle income countries, municipalities however struggle to provide an adequate level of service; in such places the informal sector plays a major role in the collection and treatment of solid waste. In contrast to the plastic and metal fraction, the organic fraction is not managed by the informal sector, primarily because it has low or no financial value and treatment would cost more than the possible revenue. If the organic fraction could be converted to valuable products, the treatment could bear its own cost and this could act as an incentive to collect and treat this fraction.
Kommuner förvÀntas tillgodose sina invÄnare med avfallshantering, vilket finansieras med skatteintÀkter och/eller avfallshanteringsavgifter. I mÄnga lÄg-, och medel-inkomstlÀnder kÀmpar kommunerna med att tillgodose en acceptable servicenivÄ och pÄ dessa stÀlle sköter den informella sektorn ofta stora delar av insamlingen och behandlingen av avfallet. Till skillnad frÄn plast-, och metallfraktionerna, sköter inte den informella sektorn om det biologiska nedbrytbara fraktionen; frÀmst för vÀrdet Àr sÄ lÄgt att behandlingen skulle kosta betydligt mer Àn de möjliga inkomsterna. Om den biologiskt nedbrytbara fraktionen kunde omvandlas till produkter av högt vÀrde skulle behandlingen kunna bÀra sin egen kostnad vilket skulle kunna uppmuntra insamlingen och behandlingen av denna fraktion.
I den hÀr studien utvÀrderade och jÀmförde vi det potentiella vÀrdet av produkter som erhölls i fyra olika behandlingsstrategier: termofil kompostering (den vanligaste förekommande behandlingen av det biologiskt nedbrytbara fraktionen globalt), fluglarvskompostering, rötning och fluglarvskompostering följt av rötning. Om ni Àr intresserade av vilken strategi som producerar högst vÀrde, lÀs artikeln vidare hÀr.
In a very recent study published in Science of the Total Environment, Sahar Dalahmeh, a researcher at the Environmental Engineering Unit, and her co-workers investigated the potential of biochar filters to replace or complement sand filters for the removal of pharmaceutical residues from wastewater in onsite sewage facilities.
Luis Fernando Perez Mercado, Doctoral Candidate at the Environmental Engineering Unit, Department of Energy and Technology will defend his licentiate thesis entitled, On-farm filtration technology for pathogen reduction: Reuse of low hygienic quality water for vegetable irrigation.
When?:Â 24 October 2017 at 13:30
Where?: Lecture Room 2034, MVM house, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
For further information, get in touch with Luis at the Department of Energy and Technology, P.O. Box 7032, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. E-mail: fernando.perez@slu.se
Jenna Senecal, Doctoral Candidate at the Environmental Engineering Unit, Department of Energy and Technology will defend her licentiate thesis entitled, Urea stabilisation and dehydration for urine-diverting toilets: System and hygiene evaluation.
When?:Â 24 October 2017 at 09:00
Where?: Lecture Room S, Ulls hus, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala
For further information, get in touch with Jenna Senecal at the Department of Energy and Technology, P.O. Box 7032, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. E-mail: jenna.senecal@slu.se
When?:Â 25 October 2017 at 13:00
Where?: Room: Hörsal V, Ulls hus, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala
Online Streaming?: Click here
To honor Prof. HĂ„kan Jönsson who retires during 2017, the Kretsloppsteknik research group at the Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences is organizing a Farewell symposium on the 25th of October, between 13:00 and 17:30. The Symposium, entitled âSanitation Technologies of the Futureâ will host several Swedish and International experts who will present their visions about the future of the sanitation sector. A schedule of the symposium can be seen below.
Farewell Seminar HÄkan Jönsson!
Sanitation Technologies of the Future
25 October 2017 at 13:00
Location: Hörsal V Ulls hus SLU
There will be a possibility to follow the seminar on the web.
To honour HĂ„kan Jönsson who will retire during 2017 we are organising a Farwell symposium the 25th of October, between 1:00 and 5:30 pm. The title of the symposium is âSanitation Technologies of the Futureâ.
Both Swedish and international experts will present their visions about the future in sanitation (a detailed schedule will be presented the coming week).
Kindly spread the invitation to those interested.
The saying âwe are what we eatâ is only part of the story. What we eat is what we excrete, and this means plant nutrients. Human excreta contain the same nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K) as the fertilisers used to produce the food consumed (Winker et al., 2009). However, human excreta are considered unwanted waste throughout the world, creating humanitarian and environmental problems (Baum et al., 2013). In order to replace the nutrients removed from the fields during harvesting, more fertilisers are manufactured in industrial processes that are contributing to environmental changes at global level (Rockström et al., 2009). Recycling human excreta back to agricultural fields would reduce the current dependence on fossil fuel-derived fertilisers (RamĂrez & Worrell, 2006). It would also improve crop yields in e.g. sub-Saharan Africa, where fertiliser application is low (FAO, 2015), and protect marine ecosystems in the Baltic Sea by limiting the flow of excess nutrients to surface waters (Rockström et al., 2009).
Within our research group we are working with several methods for returning nutrients from food and wastewater to agriculture. Source separation of waste flows can make for simpler treatment and higher quality of the recovered products. However, the use of source separation systems is far from wide spread. Trying to understand why this is the case and what can be done to increase source separation is also part of our research focus. And we are not alone in looking for opportunities to transition our waste systems into something more sustainable. A recent popular science article in the magasin Extrakt, sponsored by the Swedish Research Council Formas, featured an interview with Jennifer McConville on what is needed to implement these systems at a large scale.