Blog from the Environmental Engineering Research Group at SLU
SLU and IAS (International Aid services) jointly hosted a round table meeting on the 25th of January in Nairobi, Kenya. Different stakeholders such as local politicians, NGOs and researchers took part in the meeting, to discuss how to jointly solve the sanitation situation in Africa’s largest urban slum, Nairobi’s Kibera.
Participants of the round table meeting. PC: Sheila Gatumu
Foto: Evgheni Ermolaev
Date: 14/3-2018, 9 – 16
Location: Campus Ultuna (Biosfären och Flugväxthuset), Uppsala
Price: 5000 SEK/person
Under this one-day course the course delegates will be presented with a general introduction to fly larvae treatment, including both the fly rearing and composting steps. We will present the theory behind the different steps of the module based fly larvae treatment and practical exercises on handling of larvae, pupae and flies. The course will be given in English.
Foto: Evgheni Ermolaev
Datum: 14/3-2018, 9 – 16
Plats: Ultuna campus (Biosfären och Flugväxthuset), Uppsala
Pris: 5000 kr/person
Under denna endagsutbildning ger vi dig som deltagare en övergripande introduktion till fluglarvskompostering och flugodling. Vi går igenom teorin i de olika stegen i modulbaserad fluglarvskompostering och därtill hörande storskalig flugodling följt av praktiska övningar i hantering av larver, puppor och flugor. Kursen kommer till stora delar att vara på engelska. Vid internationellt deltagande kommer hela kursen att hållas på engelska.
Foto: Viktoria Wiklicky
Frida Erlöv kommer att hålla sin kandidatpresentation om växthusgasutsläpp från fluglarvskompostering 22 Februari kl 14 i Ekoln. Håkan Jönsson är examinator.
Fluglarvskompostering med den Amerikanska vapenflugan (Hermetia illucens) har visat sig vara en effektiv behandlingsmetod som genererar flera produkter av värde, såsom djurfoder och organiskt gödningsmedel eller biobränslen. Behandling med larver av den Amerikanska vapenflugan har därmed potentialen att bidra till en miljömässigt positiv och ekonomiskt lönsam återvinning av de biologiska restprodukter som finns i vårt samhälle. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka växthusgasutsläpp från fluglarvskompostering samt jämföra dessa med aerob termofil kompostering. Detta för att i senare studier kunna bedöma den totala miljöpåverkan av fluglarvskompostering. För att uppnå detta mättes gasutsläpp från tre olika fluglarvskomposteringsbehandlingar: en med endast fluglarver och två där det även tillsattes nedbrytande fluglarvsspecifika bakterier utöver själva fluglarverna. Utöver gasutsläpp mättes även olika parametrar i materialet (pH, skrymdensitet, kompostmognad, vattenhalt, glödförlust och total kväve) för att kunna jämföra de olika behandlingarna och för att få en ökad förståelse för de processer som ägt rum.
Foto: Viktoria Wiklicky
Frida Erlöv will present her Bachelor thesis about Greenhouse gas emissions from fly larvae composting on 22 February at 2 pm in Ekoln. Håkan Jönsson is the examinor. The presentation will be held in Swedish.
Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) composting have proven to be very effective in degradation of organic waste products, while generating valuable products, such as animal feed and organic fertilizers or biofuels. Treatment with black soldier fly larvae has thereby a potential to contribute to a more environmental friendly and economically viable management of biological waste fractions. The aim of this study was to measure greenhouse gas emissions from black soldier fly composting and to compare these with emissions from thermophilic aerobic composting. Gas emissions from three different black soldier fly larvae composts were measured: one with only larvae and two in which specific fly larvae bacteria were added as well as the larvae. In addition, various parameters (pH, bulk density, compost maturity, total solids, organic content and total-N) were measured, to get a better understanding concerning present processes.
Photo: Julio Gonzales/SLU On March 14th, Professor Håkan Jönsson will be awarded the Water Prize by Föreningen Vatten (Society Water). “Never during my 10 years in the board of Föreningen Vatten have we received so many heavy nominations for a certain person. Most universities, organizations and individuals in the industry have shown strong support for this prize winner“, writes Marta Ahlquist-Juhlén, the chairman of Föreningen Vatten. Among others, Prof. Jönsson has actively worked to close the cycle between cities and rural areas for 25 years, and his research has made a great impression. Most well-known is his commitment to upstream solutions in wastewater systems and his work on recycling plant nutrients from wastewater to arable land.
How much water do each of us use every day? Can future sanitation systems and off-the-grid houses be designed so as to minimize energy and water consumption? Where does wastewater management fit into the waste hierarchy/pyramid? In his presentation, Björn Vinnerås, Associate Professor at SLU shares with us his vision of future housing: a future where there is ‘no need for network connections, neither electricity nor water, and nor wastewater’.
On 25th October, the kretsloppsteknik research group hosted a farewell symposium in honor of Professor Håkan Jönsson. At SLU, Prof. Jönsson has been leading research and education on the topic of nutrient recycling from wastewater and food waste since 1993, when the topic was first introduced at the department of energy and technology. It was under his lead, the research group kretsloppsteknik (environmental engineering) was established.
In his farewell presentation Prof. Jönsson explored many topics such as composting, source-separation of wastewater, urine diversion and recycling, systems analysis and environmental impact assessment of urine diversion, etc. Click here to access the presentation which recaps the work, research and contributions of Prof. Jönsson to various subject areas over the years.
Prof. Jönsson closed the symposium with further remarks and a vote of thanks. 
At a symposium hosted by the Kretsloppsteknik group, Dr. Mariska Ronteltap of the IHE Delft Institute for Water Capacity Building presented her perspective on what the future of sanitation education could look like. Why is it important to build capacity in the WASH sector? How can we do it through innovative teaching methods? How can MOOCs, Online Learning, Professional Diploma Programs, Active Learning, etc. towards sanitation education? Learn about this and the one-year Masters Programme in Sanitation being developed by IHE in Dr. Ronteltap’s presentation. 
What is ‘New Sanitation’ according to Professor Grietje Zeeman from Wageningen University in the Netherlands? How has the practical experience been so far with the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for blackwater treatment and bio-flocculation of greywater? Can micropollutants be mitigated through composting of anaerobic sludge? Are heavy metals from wastewater really a problem in agriculture? Interested in learning more about how these technologies have been applied at full scale in Sneek, Venlo, Wageningen and The Hague? Click here to access Professor Zeeman’s presentation.
