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Sustainable Environmental Protection Using Modified Pit-Latrines

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Sustainable Environmental Protection Using Modified Pit-Latrines Sustainable Environmental Protection Using Modified Pit-Latrines Esnati James Chaggu Promotor: Prof. dr.ir. G. Lettinga Hoogleraar in de anaërobe zuiveringstechnologie en hergebruik van afvalstoffen Co-promotoren: Dr. W. T. M. Sanders Post-doc onderzoeker bij de sectie Milieutechnologie, Wageningen Universiteit, Nederland Prof. A. Mashauri Dar-es-Salaam Universiteit, Tanzania Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Prof. G. Spaargaren Wageningen Universiteit Prof. dr. H. J. Gijzen UNESCO-IHE, Delft, Nederland Dr. G. J. Medema KIWA Water Research, Nieuwegein, Nederland Prof. Dr. H. Folmer Wageningen Universiteit Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd binnen de onderzoekschool Wimek Sustainable Environmental Protection Using Modified Pit-Latrines Esnati James Chaggu Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit, Prof. Dr. Ir. L. Speelman, in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 23 maart 2003 des namiddags te half twee in de aula CIP-DATA KONINKLIJKE BIBLIOTHEEK, DEN HAAG. Chaggu, E. J. Sustainable Environmental Protection Using Modified Pit-Latrines ISBN: 90-5808-989-4 Subject headings: excreta disposal/blackwater/nightsoil/anaerobic digestion/improved pit latrines Abstract - Chaggu, E. J. (2004). Sustainable Environmental Protection Using Modified Pit-Latrines. Ph.D Thesis, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Pit-latrines are on-site excreta disposal facilities widely used as anaerobic accumulation system for stabilizing human wastes like excreta, both in rural and urban settlements of developing countries. Flooding of pit-latrines is often a common phenomenon, especially in situations of high water table (HWT) conditions and during the rainy season, causing a health jeopardy to residents. The pits are not water-tight, the (ground)water can freely flow in and out of the pit, especially in HWT areas. This results in groundwater (GW) pollution and even surface water pollution in the neighbourhood and pits that are filling up far too quickly. With a growing concern of public health, GW pollution and the reuse of nutrients from human waste, there is a serious need to study and improve the pit latrines, especially those in HWT areas. Specifically, the scope of this thesis was to study the socio-cultural aspects of excreta disposal in Dar-es- Salaam City, to improve the understanding of the biological stabilization processes in anaerobic accumulation systems and to come up with proper operational guidelines for emptying practices. A literature research and the results of a survey on excreta handling amongst 207 households in 9 of the 52 wards of Dar es Salaam (Dsm.) presented in this thesis shows that 50% of the filling up of pits in Dsm. city is the result of HWT. Moreover almost 16,131 kgCOD/day from pit-latrines reach GW sources (Haskoning and M-Konsult, 1989). In this study an improvement of the pit-latrine was proposed using a plastic tank as pit. A 3000-liter experimental improved pit-latrine without urine separation (IMPLWUS) was constructed and monitored at a 10-person household in Mlalakuwa settlement in Dsm., Tanzania. The influent to the reactor merely consisted of urine and faeces in the ratio of 1.3:1. The results obtained revealed that, after 380 days of use as a daily pit-latrine, the reactor content was not yet stabilized. 8000 mg/l dissolved COD (but only 100mg COD/l volatile fatty acids) were still present. Part of this dissolved COD was shown to be biodegradable signifying the need for further stabilization of the reactor content. It was hypothesized that the slow conversion of dissolved COD was due to the fact that the reactor was started with sludge that was not adapted to the resulting high ammonia concentration of 3000 mg N/l, i.e. the system in fact was still under start-up, and in subsequent runs of the reactor the conversion of dissolved COD would be much faster. For further evaluation of the conversion processes proceeding in the improved pit-latrine a simple mathematical model was used. The model results for the course of the concentration of the different COD components in the accumulating sludge in improved pit latrines receiving black water or night soil reactors, revealed that under tropical conditions 97% sludge stabilization is achievable within 1 year of reactor use. If 99% or more stability is desired, an accumulation period of 2.5 years is required or closing the reactor without adding any new materials for at least two weeks before desludging is necessary. When assuming -1 -1 Monod kinetics with km = 1 gCOD⋅gCOD ⋅d (Batstone et al,. 2003) it was calculated that for a latrine receiving black water as influent the specific methanogenic activity of the sludge after reactor closure will be about 0.12 g COD/g VSS/day. At a sludge concentration of 30 g VSS/l the volume to be left in the reactor as seed sludge for the subsequent runs is about 250 litres. Finally a short survey was done of existing composting latrines of the type of Ecosan toilets installed in Dar- es-Salaam. The survey revealed that high pH values occur (up to 10.4) in Ecosan toilets due to addition of charcoal ashes. High pH assist in the reduction of E-Coli and Ascaris eggs, but on the other hand could not allow biological degradation of waste. The separated urine in Ecosan toilets showed on average E-coli counts of 1525 no./100 ml. indicating that urine was not adequately separated. In the light of sustainable development and in view of cost and economy, simple sanitary systems like Ecosan and IMPLWUS is the correct approach in Dar-es-Salaam and other tropical regions of developing countries. Sludge drying beds can be used for further stabilization of emptied sludge since they are cheaper than mechanized ones. Correct separation of urine in Ecosan toilets is necessary with the assistance of user health education. Comparing the Ecosan toilets to the improved pit-latrines it has to be concluded that both systems are promising alternatives to the conventional pit-latrine systems. However, both systems are still at their developing stage and require further work to provide a genuine sustainable solution for the disposal of human excreta in Dar-es-Salaam. The wealthy developed countries need to work with the developing countries in implementation of public sanitation aspects in low cost manner instead of advocating the expensive systems that will fail anyway. Table of Contents Page Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview 2 1.2 A Short History of Water Supply in Tanzania 6 1.3 Sanitation Situation in Tanzania 6 1.4 Initiatives to Improve Sanitation 9 1.5 Anaerobic Digestion as Central Technology for Decentralised Sanitation and Reuse (DESAR) Concepts 10 1.5.1 Meaning of Anaerobic Digestion 10 1.5.2 Process in Anaerobic Digestion of Complex Waste(water)s 11 1.5.3 Performance of an Anaerobic Treatment and Digestion Systems 12 1.5.4 The Effect of Temperature on Anaerobic Biological Conversion 13 1.6 Accumulation Systems 14 1.7 Pathogens Removal in Anaerobic Digesters 15 1.8 Faeces and Urine Reuse Potential/Aspects 16 1.8.1 Historical Background 16 1.8.2 Faeces Production Rate 17 1.8.3 Urine Production Rate 20 1.8.4 Energy Needs and Gas Production 20 1.9 Urban Agriculture as an Urban Issue 20 1.10 The Need for Post Treatment after Anaerobic Digestion Process 21 1.11 Conclusion 21 1.12 Outline of the Thesis 22 Chapter 2 Excreta Disposal in Dar-es-Salaam 23 2.1 Introduction 24 2.2 The Objective of the Study 24 2.3 Methodology and Materials 25 2.4 Results and Discussion 25 2.4.1 Social factor 27 2.4.2 Construction, Costs and Conditions of Pit-Latrines 31 2.4.3 Sludge Disposal 32 2.5 Some Further Thoughts 35 2.6 Conclusions and Recommendations 36 Chapter 3 Analytical Methods 37 3.1 Determination of COD fractions of the samples 37 3.2 The Analytical Methods Used 37 3.2.1 Total Chemical Oxygen Demand Determination via Titration Method 37 3.2.2 Chemical Oxygen Demand Determination via micro-COD Method 38 3.2.3 Determination of Total and Volatile (Suspended) Solids, {TS(S) & VS(S)} 38 3.2.4 Specific Methanogenic Activity Test (SMA) 38 3.2.5 Stability test 39 3.2.6 Ascaris Eggs Determination 39 3.2.7 Faecal Coliforms Determination 40 3.2.8 Determination of TKN (Nkj), NH4-N of Sludge 40 3.2.9 VFA Determination 41 Chapter 4 Modelling of Anaerobic Conversion of Black Water and Night Soil in Accumulation systems 42 4.1 Introduction 42 4.2 Modelling the Biological Conversion in Accumulation Systems 43 4.3 Implementation of Model for Accumulation systems 46 4.4 Assessment of Values for Influent and Kinetic Parameters to Model the Digestion of Black Water and Night Soil in AC Systems in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania 52 4.5 Results and Discussion 56 4.5.1 Results of Model Calculations (with model Influent) 56 4.5.2 Sludge Production 58 4.5.3 The Effect of temperature on Gas Production 58 4.5.4 The Amount of Seed Sludge 59 4.6 Conclusion 60 Chapter 5 Anaerobic Stabilization of Black Water in Accumulation System “The Demonstration Reactor” 62 5.1 Introduction 63 5.2 Materials and Methods 64 5.2.1 A Short Description of the Study Area 64 5.2.2 Set-up of Demonstration Reactor 64 5.2.3 Analyses Done on the Demonstration reactor 68 5.2.3.1 Recordings of Influent 68 5.2.3.2 Samples Taken 68 5.2.4 Results and Discussion 68 5.3.1 Seed Sludge Results 68 5.3.2 Influent Flow and Urine:Faeces Ratio 69 5.3.3 Estimated Influent Composition 71 5.3.4 COD Profiles of IMPLWUS 71 + 5.3.5 NH4 -N and NKj Results 73 5.3.6 Gas Production 76 5.3.7 Sludge Stability 77 5.4 Conclusions 79 5.5 Notation 80 Chapter 6 Performance of Composting
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