IAEA-TECDOC-971 Sewage sludge and wastewater for use in agriculture Proceedings of consultants meetings organized by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and the IAEA Division Physicalof Chemicaland Sciences, and held Vienna,in December5-9 1994 <> INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY The IAEA does not normally maintain stocks of reports in this series. However, microfiche copies of these reports can be obtained from IN IS Clearinghouse International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramerstrasse 5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria Orders shoul accompaniee db prepaymeny db f Austriao t n Schillings 100, in the form of a cheque or in the form of IAEA microfiche service coupons which may be ordered separately from the INIS Clearinghouse. The originating Sections of this publication in the IAEA were Soil Fertility, Irrigatio Crod nan p Production Section Joint FAO/IAEA Division and Industrial Application Chemistrd san y Section International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramerstrasse5 PO Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria SEWAGE SLUDG WASTEWATED AGRICULTUREN AN I E US R RFO E IAEA, VIENNA, 1997 IAEA-TECDOC-971 ISSN 1011-4289 ©IAEA, 1997 Printed by the IAEA in Austria October 1997 FOREWORD Wastes have been produced by mankind since ancient nomadic tribes settled into villages and started utilizing cultivatinfird ean g land. Archaeological evidence trace practice sth wastf eo e disposal back to antiquity. However, the concept of community-wide systematic collection, treatment, and disposa solif o l d waste wastewated san t evolvno d erdi unti late th le 19th century. The disposal of sewage sludge is a serious problem in many countries due to rapid urbanization Agriculture offers one solution: land application of municipal sewage sludge is practised throughout the world, with beneficial effects on crop yields, soil organic matter, cation exchange capacity, water holding capacit soid yan l fertilit generalym . High level nitrogenf so , phosphoru micronutnentd san s founn di sewage sludge mak excellenn a t ei t fertilizer additionn I . , high organic matter leve improvn ca l e soil structure, particularly tha sandsemf d areasto d an ian y d .soil an However n si presence ,th pathogenif eo c organisms, heavy metals and other toxic materials from industry, necessitates treatment of sewage sludge before applicatio soilo nt , limin compostind gan traditionae gar l methods. Recently, gamma rayd san electron beams have been successfully use sludgen do wastewated san eliminato rt e pathogenic organisms and some toxic chemicals. Sufficient technical dat available aar r gammefo a treatmen f sludgeso t , permittin applicatios git demonstratioe th n no commerciar no l scale knowledgr gapt ou bu , n si e exisr fo t the practical application of electron-beam technology. The IAEA's involvement in studies of radiation processing of sewage sludge dates back several years A five-year Co-ordinated Research programme on Radiation Treatment of Sewage Sludge for Safe Reutihzation, involving Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, and the United States of America completes wa , 1990n di . This programme lai dsolia d foundatio whicn no h future programmes can be built. However, at present, information is limited on the availability of nutrients from sewage sludges to crops, its benefits as an organic amendment to soil, and the harmful effects of heavy metals on crop growth Isotop radiatiod ean n technique valuable sar e tool potentiaf so findinn i e us lg answers to some of these questions. Decembe9 Fro o t m5 r 1994 Joine th , t FAO/IAEA Divisio Nucleaf no r Technique Foon si d dan Agriculture held a Consultants meeting on Radiation Processing of Sewage Sludge and its Use to Increase Crop Yields, and to Preserve the Environment, with S. Kumarasinghe of the Soil Fertility, Irrigation and Crop Production Section acting as the Scientific Secretary. In parallel, the Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences hel Consultantda s meetin Irradiation go n Treatmen f Watero t , Wastewated an r Sludges, with M. Lapidot and V Markovic of the Industrial Applications and Chemistry Section as the Scientific Secretaries. This publication, which contain papere sth sConsultanto presentetw e th t da s meetingss wa , prepared by S. Kumarasinghe and M. Lapidot. EDITORIAL NOTE In preparing this publication press,for IAEAthe staffof have pages madethe up from the original manuscripts submittedas authors.the viewsby The expressed necessarilynot do reflect those of the IAEA, the governments of the nominating Member States or the nominating organizations. Throughout the text names of Member States are retained as they were when the text was compiled. Theof use particular designations of countries territoriesor does imply judgementnot any by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention namesof specificof companies productsor (whetherindicatednot or as registered) does imply intentionnot any infringeto proprietary rights, should construednor be it as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. The authors are responsible for having obtained the necessary permission for the IAEA to reproduce, translate or use material from sources already protected by copyrights. CONTENTS IRRADIATION TECHNIQUES FOR SEWAGE SLUDGE AND WASTEWATER Current status of radiation treatment of water and wastewater ................................ 9 A.K. Pikaev Disinfection of sewage sludge by gamma radiation, electron beams and alternative methods ....... 29 T. Lessel A comparative view of radiation, photo and photocatalytically induced oxidation of water pollutants ..................................................... 47 GetoffN. Radiation induced oxidation for water remediation ........................................ 65 P. Gehringer Sewage sludge disinfection by irradiation (ENEA-ACEA collaboration) ....................... 83 D. Baraldi APPLICATION OF SEWAGE SLUDGE IN AGRICULTURE Some long term effects of land application of sewage sludge on soil fertility (Abstract) ........... 93 McGrath,S.P. A.M. Chaudri, K.E. Giller Revie studief wo irradiaten so d sewage sludg manurd ean n i thei d e ean rus agriculture in Indonesia .......................................................... 95 N. Hilmy, Harsojo, S. Suwirma, MM. Mitrosuhardjo nucleaf o e Us r technique studien si uptakf so metabolid ean c fatf eo xenobiotics in plants (Abstract) .................................................. 109 H. Harms Use of sewage sludge for agriculture in Japan ........................................... Ill K. Kumazawa Use of sewage sludge as a fertilizer for increasing soil fertility and crop production ............. 129 SussA. Assessment of heavy metal pollution with applications of sewage sludge and city compos maximizinr fo t g crop yields ..........................................9 13 . T.J. D'Souza, V. Ramachandran, K. Raghu Evaluatio heavf no y metal conten irradiaten ti d sludge, chicken manurd ean fertilized soil in Indonesia ....................................................... 153 N. Hilmy, S. Suwirma, S. Surtipanti, Harsojo Potential harmful effects agricultural environments of sewage sludge utilization as a fertilizer ........................................................ 159 SussA. Sewage sludge disposal in Austria .................................................... 168 F. Koch Land applicatio sewagf no e sludge: pathogen issues .....................................3 18 . A.C. Chang SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................. 191 APPENDLX .....................................................................5 19 . LIS PARTICIPANTF TO S .........................................................7 19 . NEXT PAGE(S) left BLANK IRRADIATION TECHNIQUES FOR SEWAGE SLUDGE AND WASTEWATER NEXT PAGE(S) left BLANK CURRENT STATU RADIATIOF SO N TREATMENT XA9745785 OF WATE WASTEWATED RAN R A.K. PIKAEV Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Russian Academ f Sciencesyo , Moscow, Russian Federation Abstract a brieThi s i sf reviee currenth f wo t statu f radiatioo s n treatmen f surfaco t e water, groundwater, wastewaters d sewagan , e sludges. Source f ionizino s g radiation d combinatioan , n radiation methodr fo s purificatio describee nar somn di e detail. Special attentio pais ni pilo o dindustriat d an t l facilities. INTRODUCTIO1 N Currently, because of the rapid development of industry and agriculture, the problems of purification and disinfection of natural water, wastewaters, sewage sludges, flue gases etc. are intensifyin n i gman y countries promisinA . f solvino y gwa som f theseo e e problemth y b s i s applicatio irradiatiof no n methods. Irradiation of any system leads to the formation of highly reactive species, for example hydrated electrons, OH radicals and H atoms in water, which can cause various radiolytic conversions of pollutants: redox reactions, decompositio f organio n c compounds including dyes, formatiof o n precipitates, etc. alss i t o.I well known that ionizing radiatio sterilizina s nha g action. These effects developmene basee th th r e sfo ar radiatiof to n method purificatioe th r sfo disinfectiod nan gaseousf no , liquid, and solid wastes. The first studie n radiatioo s n treatmen f wasteso t , predominantl r disinfectionfo y , were conducted in the 1950s [1]. In the 1960s, these studies were extended to the purification of water. Later, radiation methods were develope purificatioe th r