Cargando…

Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents

This study investigated the effect of locally available bulking agents on the faecal sludge (FS) composting process and quality of the final FS compost. Dewatered FS was mixed with sawdust, coffee husk and brewery waste, and composted on a pilot scale. The evolution of physical and chemical characte...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Manga, Musa, Evans, Barbara E., Ngasala, Tula M., Camargo-Valero, Miller A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9518209/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36078309
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710592
_version_ 1784799128118624256
author Manga, Musa
Evans, Barbara E.
Ngasala, Tula M.
Camargo-Valero, Miller A.
author_facet Manga, Musa
Evans, Barbara E.
Ngasala, Tula M.
Camargo-Valero, Miller A.
author_sort Manga, Musa
collection PubMed
description This study investigated the effect of locally available bulking agents on the faecal sludge (FS) composting process and quality of the final FS compost. Dewatered FS was mixed with sawdust, coffee husk and brewery waste, and composted on a pilot scale. The evolution of physical and chemical characteristics of the composting materials was monitored weekly. Results indicate that bulking agents have a statistically significant effect (p < 0.0001) on the evolution of composting temperatures, pH, electrical conductivity, nitrogen forms, organic matter mineralisation, total organic carbon, maturity indices, quality of the final compost and composting periods during FS composting. Our results suggest reliable maturity indices for mature and stable FS compost. From the resource recovery perspective, this study suggests sawdust as a suitable bulking agent for co-composting with FS—as it significantly reduced the organic matter losses and nitrogen losses (to 2.2%), and improved the plant growth index, thus improving the agronomic values of the final compost as a soil conditioner. FS co-composting can be considered a sustainable and decentralised treatment option for FS and other organic wastes in the rural and peri-urban communities, especially, where there is a strong practice of reusing organic waste in agriculture.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9518209
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-95182092022-09-29 Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents Manga, Musa Evans, Barbara E. Ngasala, Tula M. Camargo-Valero, Miller A. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article This study investigated the effect of locally available bulking agents on the faecal sludge (FS) composting process and quality of the final FS compost. Dewatered FS was mixed with sawdust, coffee husk and brewery waste, and composted on a pilot scale. The evolution of physical and chemical characteristics of the composting materials was monitored weekly. Results indicate that bulking agents have a statistically significant effect (p < 0.0001) on the evolution of composting temperatures, pH, electrical conductivity, nitrogen forms, organic matter mineralisation, total organic carbon, maturity indices, quality of the final compost and composting periods during FS composting. Our results suggest reliable maturity indices for mature and stable FS compost. From the resource recovery perspective, this study suggests sawdust as a suitable bulking agent for co-composting with FS—as it significantly reduced the organic matter losses and nitrogen losses (to 2.2%), and improved the plant growth index, thus improving the agronomic values of the final compost as a soil conditioner. FS co-composting can be considered a sustainable and decentralised treatment option for FS and other organic wastes in the rural and peri-urban communities, especially, where there is a strong practice of reusing organic waste in agriculture. MDPI 2022-08-25 /pmc/articles/PMC9518209/ /pubmed/36078309 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710592 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Manga, Musa
Evans, Barbara E.
Ngasala, Tula M.
Camargo-Valero, Miller A.
Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents
title Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents
title_full Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents
title_fullStr Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents
title_full_unstemmed Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents
title_short Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents
title_sort recycling of faecal sludge: nitrogen, carbon and organic matter transformation during co-composting of faecal sludge with different bulking agents
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9518209/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36078309
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710592
work_keys_str_mv AT mangamusa recyclingoffaecalsludgenitrogencarbonandorganicmattertransformationduringcocompostingoffaecalsludgewithdifferentbulkingagents
AT evansbarbarae recyclingoffaecalsludgenitrogencarbonandorganicmattertransformationduringcocompostingoffaecalsludgewithdifferentbulkingagents
AT ngasalatulam recyclingoffaecalsludgenitrogencarbonandorganicmattertransformationduringcocompostingoffaecalsludgewithdifferentbulkingagents
AT camargovaleromillera recyclingoffaecalsludgenitrogencarbonandorganicmattertransformationduringcocompostingoffaecalsludgewithdifferentbulkingagents