Sewage Sludge and Wastewater for Use in Agriculture
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XA9745784 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 of Physical and Chemical Sciences, and held in Vienna, 5-9 December 1994 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY /A October 1997 £ » 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 should be accompanied by prepayment of Austrian 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. 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 of Physical and Chemical Sciences, and held in Vienna, 5-9 December 1994 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY The originating Sections of this publication in the IAEA were: Soil Fertility, Irrigation and Crop Production Section Joint FAO/IAEA Division and Industrial Applications and Chemistry Section International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramerstrasse 5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria SEWAGE SLUDGE AND WASTEWATER FOR USE IN AGRICULTURE 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 fire and cultivating land. Archaeological evidence traces the practice of waste disposal back to antiquity. However, the concept of community-wide systematic collection, treatment, and disposal of solid wastes and wastewater did not evolve until the late 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 capacity and soil fertility in general. High levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and micronutrients found in sewage sludge make it an excellent fertilizer. In addition, high organic matter level can improve soil structure, particularly that of sandy soils in arid and semi arid areas. However, the presence of pathogenic organisms, heavy metals and other toxic materials from industry, necessitates treatment of sewage sludge before application to soil; liming and composting are traditional methods. Recently, gamma rays and electron beams have been successfully used on sludges and wastewater to eliminate pathogenic organisms and some toxic chemicals. Sufficient technical data are available for gamma treatment of sludges, permitting its application on the demonstration or commercial scale, but gaps in our knowledge exist for 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 Reutilization, involving Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, and the United States of America, was completed in 1990. This programme laid a solid foundation on which 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. Isotope and radiation techniques are valuable tools of potential use in finding answers to some of these questions. From 5 to 9 December 1994, the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and 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 held a Consultants meeting on Irradiation Treatment of Water, Wastewater and Sludges, with M. Lapidot and V. Markovic of the Industrial Applications and Chemistry Section as the Scientific Secretaries. This publication, which contains the papers presented at the two Consultants meetings, was prepared by S. Kumarasinghe and M. Lapidot. EDITORIAL NOTE In preparing this publication for press, staff of the IAEA have made up the pages from the original manuscripts as submitted by the authors. The views expressed do not necessarily 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. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement 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 of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed 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 AX. 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 N. Getoff 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 S. P. McGrath, A.M. Chaudri, K.E. Giller Review of studies on irradiated sewage sludge and manure and their use in agriculture in Indonesia 95 N. Hilmy, Harsojo, S. Suwirma, M.M. Mitrosuhardjo Use of nuclear techniques in studies of uptake and metabolic fate of 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 A. Suss Assessment of heavy metal pollution with applications of sewage sludge and city compost for maximizing crop yields 139 T.J. D'Souza, V. Ramachandran, K. Raghu Evaluation of heavy metal content in irradiated sludge, chicken manure and 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 A. Suss Sewage sludge disposal in Austria 168 F. Koch Land application of sewage sludge: pathogen issues 183 A.C. Chang SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 191 APPENDLX 195 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 197 NEXT PAGE(S) left BLANK IRRADIATION TECHNIQUES FOR SEWAGE SLUDGE AND WASTEWATER NEXT PAGE(S) left BLANK CURRENT STATUS OF RADIATION TREATMENT XA9745785 OF WATER AND WASTEWATER A.K. PIKAEV Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation Abstract This is a brief review of the current status of radiation treatment of surface water, groundwater, wastewaters, and sewage sludges. Sources of ionizing radiation, and combination radiation methods for purification are described in some detail. Special attention is paid to pilot and industrial facilities. 1. INTRODUCTION 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 intensifying in many countries. A promising way of solving some of these problems is by the application of irradiation 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, decomposition of organic compounds including dyes, formation of precipitates, etc.. It is also well known that ionizing radiation has a sterilizing action. These effects are the bases for the development of radiation methods for the purification and disinfection of gaseous, liquid, and solid wastes. The first studies on radiation treatment of wastes, predominantly for disinfection, were conducted in the 1950s [1]. In the 1960s, these studies were extended to the purification of water. Later, radiation methods were developed for the purification of flue gases. Currently, the main directions for research and technological development in this area are: (1) radiation treatment of surface and groundwater; (2) radiation purification of wastewater; (3) radiation treatment of sewage sludges; (4) radiation purification of flue gases; (5) radiation purification of solid wastes: hospital and airport wastes, contaminated soil, etc. This is a brief review of the current status of radiation treatment of water, wastewater, and sewage sludge.