Guide to Sanitation Resource Recovery Products & Technologies
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Guide to Sanitation Resource Recovery Products & Technologies A supplement to the Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies 1st Edition Guide to Sanitation Resource Recovery Products & Technologies A supplement to the Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies Jennifer McConville, Charles Niwagaba, Annika Nordin, Marcus Ahlström, Vivian Namboozo and Mark Kiffe We would like to thank the following individuals and their organisations/ institutions for their invaluable contributions to this publication: Allan Komakech (Makerere University), Åke Nordberg (SLU), Amadou Gueye (Delvic Sanitation Initiatives), Arne Panesar (GIZ), Barbara Jeanne Ward (Eawag), Bastian Etter (VUNA), Björn Vinnerås (SLU), Christian Zurbrügg (Eawag/SLU), Christoph Lüthi (Eawag), Cecilia Lalander (SLU), Daniel Ddiba (SEI), Dorothee Sphuler (Eawag), Ebenezer Soh Kengne (University of Bamenda), Elhadji Mamadou Sonko (Cheikh Anta Diop University), Elisabeth Kvarnström (RISE), Ershad Ulla Khan (SLU), Eva Thorin (Mälardalen University), Grietje Zeeman (Wageningen University & Research), Håkan Jönsson (SLU), Jenna Senecal (SLU), Kim Andersson (SEI), Linda Strande (Eawag), Linus Dagerskog (SEI), Luis Perez Mercado (SLU), Lukas Ulrich (Eawag), Madeleine Fogde (SEI), Melissa A. Barton, Naomi Korir (Sanivation), Peter Morgan, Priscila de Morais Lima (SLU), Prithvi Simha (SLU), Robert Gensch (German Toilet Organisation), and Sahar Dalahmeh (Uppsala University). We would like to acknowledge support from: The Swedish Research Council (grant number: 2016-06297) and Swedish Research Council FORMAS (project number: 2016-01076) Report 116 (2020), Dept. of Energy and Technology, SLU, ISBN 978-91-576-9801-8 4 Table of contents Introduction 7 Terminology 10 Reading the Information Sheets 14 Part 1: Reuse Products 20 R.1 Stored Urine 22 R.2 Concentrated Urine 24 R.3 Sanitised Blackwater 26 R.4 Digestate 28 R.5 Nutrient Solutions 30 R.6 Dry Urine 32 R.7 Struvite 34 R.8 Dried Faeces 36 R.9 Pit Humus 38 R.10 Dewatered Sludge 40 R.11 Compost 42 R.12 Ash from Sludge 44 R.13 Biochar 46 R.14 Nutrient-Enriched Filter Material 48 R.15 Algae 50 R.16 Macrophytes 52 R.17 Black Soldier Fly Larvae 54 R.18 Worms 56 R.19 Irrigation Water 58 R.20 Aquaculture 60 R.21 Biogas 62 Photos of Reuse Products 64 Part 2: Treatment Technologies 66 T.20 Vermicomposting and Vermifiltration 68 T.21 Black Soldier Fly Composting 70 T.22 Algae Cultivation 72 T.23 Microbial Fuel Cell 74 T.24 Nitrification and Distillation of Urine 76 T.25 Struvite Precipitation 78 T.26 Incineration 80 T.27 Carbonisation 82 T.28 Solar Drying 84 T.29 Membranes 86 T.30 Filters 88 T.31 Alkaline Dehydration of Urine 90 T.32 Ammonia Sanitisation/Urea Treatment 92 T.33 Lime Sanitisation 94 Photos of Treatment Technologies 97 5 Part 3: Cross-Cutting Issues 98 X.1 Pathogens and Safe Reuse of Products 99 X.2 Medication Residues and Other Emerging Contaminants 102 X.3 Fertilising with Reuse Product 104 X.4 Issues of Acceptance 109 X.5 Business Models 112 X.6 Policy Implications 115 Connecting Technologies in the Eawag Compendium 118 Glossary 120 References 128 6 Introduction Background The world is currently undergoing a paradigm shift towards a circular society in which resources are recovered and reused rather than discarded. The global population has surpassed seven billion people, and rapid urbanisation in many areas is putting a significant strain on our ability to provide basic services to all. The Sustainable Development Goals highlight the fact that millions still lack access to food, healthcare, water and sanitation. At the same time, it is increasingly evident that we are consuming the Earth’s resources and releasing waste into the environment in an unsustainable manner. The resulting effects on climate change, biodiversity loss and changing nutrient cycles threaten to over-step critical planetary boundaries. Crossing these boundaries has the potential to cause irreversible environmental change and to threaten the ability of humanity to develop and thrive. Sanitation systems manage carbon, nutrient and water flows, which are key resource flows that affect the planetary boundaries and thus should be recovered and recirculated instead of being released into the environment. Increasing resource recovery within our sanitation systems can play a critical role in shifting to a more sustainable society. There are significant resources within excreta and wastewater fractions that can be recovered and turned into useful products. For example, the average person excretes 4.5 kg of nitrogen, 0.5 kg of phosphorus and 1.2 kg of potassium every year. These elements and other micronutrients found in excreta are critical for the fertilising and restoration of agricultural soils. The energy value of faeces is on average 4 115 kcal/kg of dry solids. This energy can be utilised as a renewable energy source. On top of this, there are large volumes of wastewater that can be captured, cleaned and reused. However, human excreta and wastewater contain pathogens and other undesired substances, risks that need to be managed in a reuse system. The growing demand for recycling needs to be complemented with a growing knowledge of how to do it safely. The aim of this document is to provide an overview of the possibilities for resource recovery from sanitation and provide guidance on treatment processes to achieve safe products for reuse. The focus of this document is on resource recovery from the organic wastes managed in sanitation systems and, to a lesser extent, on the recovery of water and energy generation. Resource recovery sanitation systems are defined as systems that safely recycle excreta and organic waste while minimising the use of non- renewable resources such as water and chemicals. Safe recycling means that waste flows are managed so that physical, microbial and chemical risks are minimised. Thus, the recycled product should not pose any significant health threat or environmental impact when correctly used. The specific objectives of this document are: 1. To expose the user to a broad range of recovered sanitation products and innovative treatment technologies. 2. To help the user to design functional solutions for resource recovery by illustrating the linkages between sanitation inputs, treatment technology and the recoverable products. 3. To provide an overview of basic information regarding design aspects, operational requirements and health, safety and social considerations related to resource recovery technologies and products. 4. Describe and fairly present technology-specific advantages and disadvantages. 7 Target Audience The Guide to Sanitation Resource Recovery Products and Technologies is primarily a reference book. It is intended to be used by engineers, planners, end-users, researchers, technology developers, sanitation entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisation (NGO) staff and students who are interested in creating circular systems for resource use. It aims to support and enable decision making for increased resource recovery by providing information on key decision criteria for a range of recovered products and treatment technologies, thus highlighting the diversity of options available for resource recovery. This publication should be seen as a starting point to access relevant information for the design of suitable resource recovery systems for sanitation solutions. It is not meant as a stand-alone document to provide a final decision or as an implementation guide for specific technologies. Users are also directed to additional information through further references in this document. It should be noted that this document is based on the current state of the technology and knowledge within a sector that is rapidly expanding. Readers are encouraged to look for the latest publications related to reuse products and technologies of interest. Linkage to the Eawag Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies This document is designed as a supplement to the Eawag Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies1, which from here on out will be referred to as the Eawag Compendium. The Eawag Compendium highlights different technologies along the sanitation service chain in five functional groups: the User Interface (toilet), On-Site Storage and Treatment, Conveyance, (Semi-) Centralized Treatment and Use and/or Disposal. It offers a collection of technology information sheets for different options along the entire service chain, as well as system templates for how the various technologies can be put together to form a complete system. While the Eawag Compendium does include information sheets for technologies that are designed for the reuse of sanitation products (e.g., application of compost), it provides little information on the characteristics of reusable products or on how resource recovery in technologies actually might be best implemented. Therefore, the Guide to Sanitation Resource Recovery Products and Technologies focuses on reuse products that can be made from excreta and wastewater fractions and on the technologies that can produce these products. This document provides additional technology information sheets for technologies in the functional groups for Reuse and Treatment that are not in the original Eawag Compendium. It includes both well-established technologies and recent innovations. In contrast to the Eawag Compendium, which refers to the end of the service chain as functional group D Use and/or Disposal, we refer to this step as R Reuse. In order to avoid confusion with the reference