Prithvi Simha, PhD student at kretsloppsteknik, participated in the 6th International Dry Toilet Conference that was held in Tampere, Finland, between 22-24 August. Prithvi presented our ongoing research on alkaline urine dehydration technology and shared experiences of installing & operating a household-scale urine dehydration unit for three months at the SLU campus. 
Category: English
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) seminar at the World Water Week
SLU co-organised an antimicrobial resistance (AMR) seminar at the World Water Week together with SIWI, SIANI and Nordea. Annika Nordin was our representative talking about the importance of WASH to limit the spread of AMR. The sub-workshop regarding WASH and AMR was popular, with 20 people attending. The general conclusion was that source separating sanitation may be a way to better control the spread as we contain most of the antibiotics and the pathogens in a concentrated fraction that could be managed in a simpler way compared to if it is diluted with water. Managing the AMR may require that more treatment aspects than pathogen control is considered. However, inactivating the pathogens may result in considerably improved situation compared to current situation.
New intern working on fly larvae composting
Meet Panav Gupta – the group’s latest intern from India who is currently working with the black solider fly team. During his bachelors program in civil engineering, Panav was very interested in the field of waste management, especially the potential and economic outlook of using Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) for treating various types of waste. He is visiting our group at SLU for a two month long internship that began this July. During this time, he will learn about rearing and using BSFL for treating mussels and pig feed as well as understand the prospects of using BSFL for treating lignocellulosic biomass like rice straw – a possible solution for the problem of stubble burning in North India.
PC: Giulio Zorzetto
Crispy fried black soldier fly larvae!
After rearing about 10.000 larvae on food-graded feed (toast bread) it was time for the big harvest at our greenhouse! After purging and freezing the larvae, we seasoned portions of them with either garlic, lime juice, onions, mint, vinegar, chilli, salt or olive oil and let them soak over night. The result was absolutely amazing – fried for about 5 mins at medium heat, the larvae turned very crispy and added a perfect note to the rest of the meal. They were also enjoyed as snack, just like a bag of chips. Coming in different flavors, you could almost not stop munching on them! 
New Publication: Hygiene aspects of urine drying technology
In a new paper published in Water Research, Senecal et al. assessed what hygienic health risks may occur when human urine is dehydrated. The experiment was set up to simulate that the last person using the toilet (before the dehydration medium is changed) is contaminating the medium with misplaced faeces, with no time for dehydration of the urine, i.e. a worst-case scenario. It was found that urine dehydration in itself achieved a concentration < 1 A. suum per 4 g of dehydrated medium which fulfils the WHO guidelines for unrestricted use.
Research exhibition at University of Dar es salaam
Alice Isibika, PhD candidate at Kretsloppsteknik, participated in University of Dar es salaam’s Research Week Exhibition. The event showcased research, innovation, public service and knowledge exchange activities of the university’s academic staff and students to the public. In the post-graduate student projects category, Alice was placed third winner at the first phase and the second winner at the second phase.
PC: Ramadhani Kinyogoli
New publication: Will Indian consumers eat urine-fertilised food?
Decentralised sanitation technologies based on source separation of toilet waste have attracted a lot of research attention – the social sustainability of these technologies, not so much. To attempt to fill this gap, members of the Kretsloppsteknik group collaborated with researchers at VIT University, to explore what food consumers in India think of urine recycling. The results were recently published in the journal Water Research, where a survey of 1252 consumers at the VIT University campus revealed: 68% stated human urine should not be disposed but recycled, 55% considered it as fertiliser, but only 44% would consume food grown using it. 
The Market for Biochar in Sweden
Stockholm Exergi and Waste Sweden has conducted a study to investigate the market for biochar and specifically the willingness to pay within five industrial applications: biochar as soil improvers, biochar filling material in concrete, biochar in agriculture, biochar as filter material for water and wastewater, and biochar as additive to animal feed.
Sahar Dalahmeh (Environmental technology group – Institute for Energy and Technology) and Mikael Pell (Department of Molecular Sciences) participated in the study and contributed with their knowledge regarding the market for biochar as a filter material for water and sewage treatment. Click here to access the press release and summary where the report can also be downloaded from: https://www.avfallsverige.se/kunskapsbanken/rapporter/rapportera/?tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=2583&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=68ee39223998ccc35409d625c9eaf41a
Nigerian visit to the fly larvae lab
On Thurday, June 28th, we had the honour to show our research activities to a Nigierian delegation, including the Nigeria ambassador to Sweden, H.E. Musa Ilu Mohammed and the Govenour of Borno, H.E. Hon. Kashim Shettima, who were visiting SLU. Björn was presenting our visions for future solid waste management, using fly larvae composting to recycle the food waste and decrease the amount of landfilling. Additionally we visited the fly larvae lab where Victoria and Giulio presented the processes in fly larvae composting and the different stages of the insects. 
PC: Giulio Zorzetto
PC: Emelie Zonabend König
Capacity of Biochar Filters for Onsite Wastewater Treatment: Phosphorus and Nitrogen Removal
The report “Capacity of Biochar Filters for Onsite Wastewater Treatment: Phosphorus and Nitrogen Removal” is now published at Havs- och vatten myndigheten website. Capacity of Biochar Filters for Onsite Wastewater Treatment: Phosphorus and Nitrogen Removal”. In this report, Sahar Dalahmeh, researcher in the environmental technology group, has compiled her projects results on the capacity of impregnated biochar filters and two stage biochar filters for removal of phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater in small and onsite wastewater systems.
With funding from the Havs- och vattenmyndigheten- Sweden, Sahar Dalahmeh carried out and reported the project “Biochar for small and onsite wastewater treatment”. The project aimed at developing biochar as filter material to improve the treatment of wastewater in small and individual sewers. The project showed that lime and iron impregnation of biochar improved its ability to bind phosphorus, which means that it fits well as filter material in small sewage plants. In order not to saturate the material, impregnated biochar filters should be used as a separate filter module for phosphorous purification after main purification (where organic matter and ammonium are purified from sewage).
Two-step biochar filter with vertical flow followed by horizontal flow was effective to reduce organic material and had promising performance for total nitrogen reduction. However, the design of the filter system needs to be investigated and optimized.
To read more, please follow the following link. https://www.havochvatten.se/download/18.4c271c50163bf560e38d56e1/1528791738532/rapport-slu-biokol-i-sma-avloppsanlaggningar.pdf
Contact Sahar Dalahmeh
Post published by Prithvi Simha