Natnael Girma, ny doktorand som arbetar med vad som hÀnder med lÀkemedlet och ARG i torkad uringödsel

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Jag heter Natnael Girma, jag Àr en doktorand frÄn Etiopien. Jag arbetar för nÀrvarande med ett forskningsprojekt om sÀker nÀringsÄtervinning frÄn kÀllseparerad urin för hÄllbar gödselproduktion. Jag blev nyligen en del av institutionen för energi och teknik (kretsloppsteknikgruppen) vid SLU som licentiatstudent för att göra mitt forskningsprojekt. Projektet fokuserar pÄ att utvÀrdera adsorptiva egenskaper hos lÀkemedel under produktionen av urinbaserade gödselmedel och vad som hÀnder med lÀkemedlet under dess slutanvÀndning i jordbruket. Den andra delen av forskningen fokuserar pÄ mikrobiell sÀkerhet för att anvÀnda torr urinbaserad gödningsmedel i miljöer med överflöd av horisontellt överförbara antibiotikaresistenta genelement.

Natnael Girma, new PhD student to work on fate of pharmaceuticals & ARG in dried urine fertiliser

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My name is Natnael Girma, I’m a Ph.D. student from Ethiopia. I’m currently working on a research project on safe nutrient recovery from source separated urine for sustainable fertilizer production. I recently joined the energy and technology department (kretsloppsteknik unit) at SLU, as a licentiate student to do my research project. The project focuses on assessing adsorptive characteristics of pharmaceuticals during the production of urine-based fertilizers and the fate of pharmaceuticals during their end-use in agriculture. The second part of the research focuses on the microbial safety of using dry urine-based fertilizers in perspective of abundance of horizontally transmissible antibiotic resistant gene element.  

Urintorkning pilot i samarbete med peeKeep i Arles, Frankrike

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I oktober 2019 reste Jenna Senecal till Arles, Frankrike, för att fÄ kontakt med Nick Davies frÄn peeKeep. Nick har designat en ny toalett och stuga och ville testa hur vÄr alkaliska torkningsteknologi skulle kunna integreras. Toaletten anvÀnder ett transportband för att transportera utsöndring och toalettpapper till en torkkammare utanför (den svarta PVC-enheten). Medan urinen drÀneras och samlas upp för alkalisk behandling (den svarta och grÄ plÄtboxen). Nick kommer att bygga fler av dessa toaletter som ska installeras pÄ olika platser i södra Frankrike. Syftet Àr att alla system (ljus inuti kabinen, toalett, utsöndringsbehandling) ska rinna av solenergi.

Urine drying piloted in collaboration with peeKeep in Arles, France

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In October 2019, Jenna Senecal travelled to Arles, France, to connect with Nick Davies from peeKeep. Nick has designed a new toilet and cabin and wanted to test how our alkaline dehydration technology could be integrated. The toilet uses a conveyer belt to transport the excreta and toilet paper to a drying chamber outside (the black PVC unit). While the urine is drained and collected for alkaline treatment (the black and grey sheet metal box). Nick will be building more of these toilets to be installed in various locations in southern France. The aim is to have all systems (light inside the cabin, toilet, excreta treatment) running off of solar voltaics.

Ny masteruppsats ute: TeknikutvĂ€rdering av Urinsortering i Pilotskala – ett FĂ€ltförsök i Finland

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Masteruppsatsen TeknikutvĂ€rdering av Urintorkning i Pilotskala – ett FĂ€ltförsök i Finland (författare Caroline Karlsson) finns nu publicerad pĂ„ DiVA. I det spĂ€nnande masterprojektet testades urinsorteringsteknologin för första gĂ„ngen i fĂ€ltförhĂ„llanden pĂ„ en militĂ€ranlĂ€ggning i sydvĂ€stra Finland. Uppsatsen kan lĂ€sas pĂ„: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1374211

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Technical Evaluation of Urine Drying in Pilot Scale – a Field Experiment in Finland

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The master thesis, Technical Evaluation of Urine Drying in Pilot Scale – a Field Experiment in Finland (author Caroline Karlsson), is now published at the DiVA portal. In this interesting master project the urine drying technology was tested for the first time in field conditions at a military base in southwestern Finland. For more information: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1374211

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Testar det nya rollspelet RECLAIM

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Vi avslutade Ă„ret 2019 med en mycket rolig aktivitet – att testa ett nytt rollspel utvecklat av Jennifer McConville och hennes kollegor. RECLAIM Ă€r ett spĂ€nnande, dynamiskt brĂ€dspel vars huvudsakliga syfte Ă€r att fungera som ett lĂ€rande verktyg för deltagande beslutsfattande i vatten- och sanitetsfrĂ„gor. Det finns flera intressenter representerade i spelet och alla spelare fĂ„r spela varje intressent och samarbeta för att ge och förbĂ€ttra sanitetssituationen i deras region. SjĂ€lva styrelsen Ă€r modulĂ€r i den meningen att det kan arrangeras för att skildra den gruppen av spelarstĂ€der, vare sig det Ă€r ett stadsnĂ€ra omrĂ„de i Uganda eller stadsomrĂ„det i centrala Stockholm. Inte hade vi bara mycket roligt under rollspelet, utan vi tyckte ocksĂ„ att det var intuitivt. I slutet av spelet reflekterade vi som spelare hur RECLAIM kan vara ett fantastiskt verktyg som kan hjĂ€lpa gemenskapens medlemmar att möta, dela och hjĂ€lpa till att förstĂ„ varandras perspektiv pĂ„ sanitet och hur sĂ„dana spel ger en idealisk plattform för att fĂ„ det att hĂ€nda.

Rollspel och spel Àr aktiva inlÀrningsverktyg som Àr anvÀndbara för att lÀra sig relationer mellan teknik och samhÀlle, problemlösning i komplexa situationer och kommunikation. För mer information om RECLAIM, kontakta Jennifer McConville pÄ Kretsloppsteknik.

Pharmaceutical pollution of water resources in Nakivubo wetlands & Lake Victoria, Uganda

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This study investigated the occurrence and removal in wastewater and water bodies in Nakivubo wetland area and Inner Murchison Bay, Lake Victoria, of common prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutically-active substances (PhACs) sold in Kampala city, Uganda. A questionnaire was sent to 20 pharmacies in Kampala, to identify the most commonly sold PhACs in the city. During two sampling campaigns, samples were collected from Bugolobi wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent and effluent and surface water samples from Nakivubo channel, Nakivubo wetland and Inner Murchison Bay. The concentrations of 28 PhACs, organic matter, solids and nutrients in water samples were analysed. Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic), cetirizine (anti-allergy), metformin (anti-diabetes), metronidazole (antibiotic) and omeprazole (gastric therapy) were reported by pharmacies to be the PhACs most commonly sold in the study area. Chemical analysis of water samples revealed that trimethoprim (antibiotic) and sulfamethoxazole (antibiotic) were the dominant PhACs in water from all sites except Lake Victoria.

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Fecal sludge & sewage treatment infrastructure investments & operating costs in Kampala, Uganda

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Like many low-income countries, Uganda is struggling to provide sanitation to its inhabitants. Meeting the Sustainable Development Goal related to sanitation (SDG6) will require major investments in sanitation. This study uses the concept of service regimes to analyze existing sanitation infrastructure and services and their respective costs. The service regimes investigated are the sewage regime and the fecal sludge (FS) regime. The results show that approximately 56% of the fecal flow in Kampala is estimated as ‘safely managed’. The results also show that the annual per capita costs for the sewage regime (USD 186) are more than 13-fold those for the FS regime (USD 14). Additionally, there are large differences in subsidies between the regimes. When allocating public funds, decision-makers are advised to consider (i) number of customers within regimes, (ii) total capital and operating costs of services, (iii) cost allocation between stakeholders, and (iv) infrastructure performance.

McConville, J. R., Kvarnström, E., Maiteki, J. M., & Niwagaba, C. B. (2019). Infrastructure investments and operating costs for fecal sludge and sewage treatment systems in Kampala, Uganda. Urban Water Journal, 1-10.

Trying the new role-playing game RECLAIM

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We ended the year 2019 with a very fun activity – trying out a new role-playing game developed by Jennifer McConville and her colleagues. RECLAIM is an exciting, dynamic board game whose main purpose is to act as a learning tool for participatory decision-making on water and sanitation issues. There are several stakeholders represented in the game, and all players are allowed to role play each stakeholder, and collaborate to provide and improve the sanitation situation of their region. The board itself is modular in the sense that it can be arranged to depict that group of players’ cities, be it a peri-urban area in Uganda or the urban area of central Stockholm. Not only did we have a lot of fun role playing, but we also found it to be quite intuitive. At the end of the game, we as players reflected on how RECLAIM can be a great tool that can help community members to come together, share, and help understand each other’s perspective on sanitation and how such games provide an ideal platform to make that happen.

Role-playing and gaming are active learning tools, which are useful for learning relationships between technology and society, problem solving in complex situations and communication. For further information about RECLAIM, get in touch with Jennifer McConville at Kretsloppsteknik.