scholarly journals Legislation for the Reuse of Biosolids on Agricultural Land in Europe: Overview

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 6015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Collivignarelli ◽  
Alessandro Abbà ◽  
Andrea Frattarola ◽  
Marco Carnevale Miino ◽  
Sergio Padovani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Land Application ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Member States ◽  
National Regulation ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Landfill Disposal

The issues concerning the management of sewage sludge produced in wastewater treatment plants are becoming more important in Europe due to: (i) the modification of sludge quality (biological and chemical sludge are often mixed with negative impacts on sludge management, especially for land application); (ii) the evolution of legislation (landfill disposal is banned in many European countries); and (iii) the technologies for energy and material recovery from sludge not being fully applied in all European Member States. Furthermore, Directive 2018/851/EC introduced the waste hierarchy that involved a new strategy with the prevention in waste production and the minimization of landfill disposal. In this context, biological sewage sludge can be treated in order to produce more stabilized residues: the biosolids. In some European countries, the reuse of biosolids as soil improver/fertilizer in arable crops represents the most used option. In order to control the quality of biosolids used for land application, every Member State has issued a national regulation based on the European directive. The aim of this work is to compare the different approaches provided by European Member States for the reuse of biosolids in agricultural soils. A focus on the regulation of countries that reuse significant amount of biosolids for land application was performed. Finally, a detailed study on Italian legislation both at national and regional levels is reported.

The Ruhrverband sewage sludge disposal concept in the conflict between European and German standards and regulations

2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 247-253
Author(s):  
P. Evers ◽  
F. Schmitt ◽  
D.R. Albrecht ◽  
N. Jardin
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Sludge Incineration ◽  
Sludge Disposal ◽  
The Face ◽  
Water Association

The Ruhrverband, acting as a water association responsible for integrated water resources management within the entire natural river basin of the Ruhr, operates a network of 83 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and connected sludge disposal facilities. According to German regulations, the disposal of sewage sludge containing more than 5% of organic dry solids will be prohibited as of 1 June 2005. In Germany, the only future alternative to incineration will be the agricultural utilization of sludge. However, this way of sludge disposal is presently the subject of critical discussions in Germany because of the organic and inorganic toxic substances, which may be contained in sewage sludge, despite the fact that very stringent standards are to be met by agricultural uses. On the other hand, application of sewage sludge to agricultural land is explicitly supported by the European Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC. In the face of this controversial situation the Ruhrverband has initiated, in 2000, the development of a comprehensive and sustainable sludge and waste disposal concept for all wastewater facilities it operates in the entire Ruhr River Basin. The concept includes de-central sludge digestion and dewatering and subsequent transport to two central sludge incineration plants. It is expected that in future not more than 5% of all sludges produced in Ruhrverband's WWTPs will be used in agriculture. That means, the major part of 95% will have to be incinerated.

scholarly journals Using bioleaching to remove metals from sewage sludge intended for land application

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Nie
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Removal Efficiency ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Metal Removal ◽  
Heavy Metal Removal ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Sulphur Compounds ◽  
Recommended Level

Removal of heavy metal contaminants from sewage sludge is a necessity before it is used as an agricultural fertilizer (biosolid), due to environmental concerns and municipal, provincial and federal regulations. The bioleaching method is recommended as an economical and effective process for the removal of heavy metals from the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant (ABTP) sludge, some of them with concentrations exceeding the recommended level by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs guidelines. The Gram-negative thiobacilli is a group of organisms with physiological and morphological similarity and grows by oxidizing ferrous ion and reduced sulphur compounds. One species of thiobacillus, T. ferrooxidan , was recommended as an effective bacterium for the heavy metal removal from sewage sludge. This research involved the incubation of adapted sludge using fresh raw digested sludge and activated sludge of ABTP. Using adapted sludge for the bioleaching process, the method was tested in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) in combination with a series of jar tests. Results showed that the metal removal efficiency increases with decreasing pH, and the solids content does not affect the removal efficiency of cupper and zinc very much during short term jar test. The results from the long-term (20-day) CSTR test demonstrated that the high T ferrooxians-contained adapted sludge could remove copper from the sewage sludge of ABTP very effectively, by as much as 79.2%. In comparison, the simultaneous removal efficiency of zinc and cadmium were also studied for the same process and, they are 82.0% and 83.9% respectively. The TSS degradation constant rate during the 20 days' bioleaching was found to be 0.0522 day -1. It is concluded that Ontario should continue to apply sludge to agricultural land, as sludge is an economic alternative, promotes recycling of resources, and is a valuable fertilizer. However, the toxic metals in sludge should be removed from sewage sludge using the bioleaching process to recommended level before it is disposed as a fertilizer for land application.

scholarly journals Sewage sludge as fertiliser – environmental assessment of storage and land application options

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 1034-1050 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Willén ◽  
C. Junestedt ◽  
L. Rodhe ◽  
M. Pell ◽  
H. Jönsson
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Large Impact ◽  
Storage Duration ◽  
Ammonia Addition ◽  
Reduce Emissions

Sewage sludge (SS) contains beneficial plant nutrients and organic matter, and therefore application of SS on agricultural land helps close nutrient loops. However, spreading operations are restricted to certain seasons and hence the SS needs to be stored. Storage and land application of SS are both potential sources of greenhouse gases and ammonia, leading to global warming, acidification and eutrophication. Covering the stored SS, treating it with urea and choosing the correct time for land application all have the potential to reduce emissions from the system. Using life cycle assessment (LCA), this study compares storage and land application options of SS in terms of global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential, eutrophication potential and primary energy use. The system with covered storage has the lowest impact of all categories. Systems with autumn application are preferable to spring application for all impact categories but, when nitrate leaching is considered, spring application is preferable in terms of eutrophication and primary energy use and, for some SS treatments, GWP. Ammonia addition reduces nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions during storage, but increases these emissions after land application. Storage duration has a large impact on GWP, while amount of chemical nitrogen fertiliser substituted has a large impact on primary energy use.

Potential for Municipal Sewage Sludge Application on Agricultural Lands in Southern Quebec

1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Vasseur ◽  
W Shipley ◽  
C Ansseau
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
System Modeling ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Municipal Sewage ◽  
Municipal Sewage Sludge ◽  
Agricultural Lands ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Sludge Application

Abstract In the present study, sludge composition from 112 municipalities in southern Quebec, Canada, were studied in order to examine the potential of alternative, environmentally sound sludge disposal, such as land application. Twenty-four municipalities with complete data set produced 24,000 dry tons of sludge per year. Of this amount, 47% (11,000 dry tons) could potentially be used for agricultural land application, according to Quebec standards. The other municipalities could not use their sludge for agricultural land application because of heavy metal contamination. The available areas of agricultural lands in southern Quebec are limited to about 149,454 ha. Considering that only 15% of this surface is adequate for sludge application and that a large part is already applied with manure, only 86,683 ha could be used for sludge application. Geographical Information System modeling in a smaller portion of this region showed that another 38% of land must be removed for other reasons, e.g., buffer zones around water bodies and roads. This left a surface area of approximately 54,000 ha or 5.4% of all agricultural land available for sewage sludge application in this region. Land application of sewage sludge may be possible but not without some limitations in some regions of southern Quebec. Other factors, such as pathogens contamination, climatic constraints and economic costs for the transportation and storage of sludge, must also be considered.

Industrial organic compounds in selected Canadian soils

1995 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Webber ◽  
C. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Organic Contaminants ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Quality Evaluation ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Polychlorinated Biphenyl ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Organophosphorus Pesticides ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Southern Ontario

Studies were conducted to determine the concentrations of a large number of industrial organic compounds in selected Canadian agricultural soils and to assess the potential for land application of municipal sludges to cause significant polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), organochlorine pesticide (OC) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination of agricultural land. Twenty-four Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Soil Quality Evaluation Program (SQEP) benchmark soils and six intensively cropped southern Ontario soils exhibited similar small concentrations of a few base-neutral and acid (BN&A) extractable industrial organic compounds (seldom >1 mg kg−1 dry wt), PCBs (<200 μg kg−1 dry wt) and organophosphorus pesticides (OPs). Fonofos, the only OP detected, was observed at concentrations <100 μg kg−1 dry wt. Neutral and phenoxy acid herbicide analyses for 13 soils (seven SQEP and six intensively cropped) indicated infrequent detection of these compounds. There was no detection of carbamate herbicides. In most soils, only trace amounts (<10 μg kg−1 dry wt) of OCs were observed but in one intensively cropped soil, DDT exceeded 70 mg kg−1 dw. A greater incidence of compounds such as alpha chlordane, dieldrin, aldrin and DDT in intensively cropped than in other soils is assumed to reflect increased use of these compounds for intensive crop production. Soils treated with sludge according to recommended practice exhibited minor increases in PAH, OC and PCB concentrations. There is no risk to human health or the environment from industrial organic conpounds, except possibly DDT, in Canadian agricultural soils that have received no sludge or from PAHs, OCs and PCBs in soils that have received southern Ontario sludges according to recommended practice. Key words: Municipal sludge, industrial organic compounds, organic contaminants, agricultural sustainability, soil

scholarly journals Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge as a Threat of Microplastic (MP) Spread in the Environment and the Role of Governance

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6293
Author(s):  
Natalia Milojevic ◽  
Agnieszka Cydzik-Kwiatkowska
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
The European Union ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Sludge Management ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
The Impact

Sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants is commonly used as a soil amendment on agricultural land. Unfortunately, more and more research indicates that large amounts of microplastic (MP) are re-introduced to soil with sludge. This study aims to present the impact MP has on soil ecosystems, global trends in agricultural sludge management resulting from a high concentration of micropollutants in sludge, and finally propose a high-level strategy for sustainable sludge management. This strategy is mostly dedicated to the European Union and involves multiple stakeholders and the links between each of them to achieve appropriate sludge management to avoid soil pollution with MP. Governance, Technology, Consumer Acceptance, and Economy and Commercial Viability is explored in depth. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to discuss these topics in the context of a changing agricultural scene and identifies ways of which sewage sludge can limit MP pollution whilst still fitting into a circular economy. As total elimination of agriculturally used sludge is not a viable option, more stringent regulation on sludge quality before its use is necessary, especially on contaminant concentrations. This includes MPs limits, to improve sludge quality, in turn improving soil health. More alternative management options for sludge that does not meet land usage requirements are necessary and will be explored in this study. Overall, the combination of factors discussed will inevitably lead to more emphasis on sewage sludge management, therefore it can be expected that the information presented in this review will be of high demand and importance for sludge producers and serves as a comprehensive foundation for researchers to build off.

Land application of sewage sludge: scientific perspectives of heavy metal loading limits in Europe and the United States

1994 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. McGrath ◽  
A. C. Chang ◽  
A. L. Page ◽  
E. Witter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Soil Protection ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Balance Approach ◽  
Basic Approaches

Heavy metals in sewage sludges accumulate in soils after successive sludge applications and can be toxic to plants, soil organisms, as well as humans and animals along the food chain. Because of this potential threat, many countries have set limits to the additions of metals in sludges to agricultural land, based on (i) the concentrations of metals in sludge itself, (ii) the loading, or total amount, of metal that can be added and often how quickly this can be applied, and (iii) the maximum concentrations of metals in soil which are allowed to build up after sludge applications. This review, based on regulations in the United States and some west European countries, shows that at present three basic approaches to setting limits can be distinguished: (i) a comprehensive analysis of the pathways of pollutant transfer to selected target organisms and an assessment of the likely harmful effects that metals may have on the target; (ii) setting limits consistent with the lowest observed adverse effect concentrations, which are actual cases of effects due to metals, but not necessarily derived from studies that involved land application of sewage sludge; and (iii) attempting to match the metal inputs to soil to the small losses of metals due to crop removal, soil erosion, and leaching ("metal balance approach"). These approaches are shown to result in widely different numerical limits being set for the same constituent, which is creating unease among the regulatory authorities worldwide. These differences appear to arise from at least two main sources. The first is whether, by a policy decision, zero impact is desired. This leads to very low limits, and is the philosophy behind the metal balance approach. The second is that those approaches that allow some increase in metal concentrations in soils often adopt different target organisms and these models suffer from the limited supply of relevant toxicity data, particularly information obtained from metals applied in sewage sludge. Differences in the philosophy behind environmental protection and in the choices of which organisms to protect explain the different metal limits for sewage sludge which have been adopted in the countries examined.Key words: zinc, cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel, lead, mercury, soil microbes, ecotoxicology, soil protection.

Occurrence of pharmaceutical active compounds in sewage sludge from two urban wastewater treatment plants and their potential behaviour in agricultural soils

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Silva ◽  
João Rodrigues ◽  
Rosário Coelho ◽  
António Martins ◽  
Eugénia Cardoso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Urban Wastewater ◽  
Active Compounds ◽  
Intensive Farming ◽  
Urban Wastewater Treatment

Sewage sludge/biosolids are widely used in intensive farming to maintain fertility and enhance crop yields. Therefore, characterization of these matrices is necessary to ensure their safe use, especially regarding the...

scholarly journals Study of Evolution of Microbiological Properties in Sewage Sludge-Amended Soils: A Pilot Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (18) ◽  
pp. 6696
Author(s):  
Natividad Miguel ◽  
Judith Sarasa ◽  
Andrea López ◽  
Jairo Gómez ◽  
Rosa Mosteo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Microbiological Quality ◽  
Chemical Characterization ◽  
Treatment Processes ◽  
Urban Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Bacterial Concentrations

Large amounts of sewage sludge are generated in urban wastewater treatment plants and used as fertilizer in agriculture due to its characteristics. They can contain contaminants such as heavy metals and pathogenic microorganisms. The objective of this research work is to study, in real conditions, the evolution of microbial concentration in agricultural soils fertilized by biologically treated sewage sludge. The sludge (6.25 tons Ha−1) was applied in two agricultural soils with different textures and crops. A microbiological (total coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Salmonella sp. and total mesophylls) and physical-chemical characterization of the sludge, soils and irrigation water were carried out. The evolution of these parameters during sowing, growth and harvesting of crops was studied. Initially, sewage sludge had a higher concentration of microorganisms than soils. Irrigation water also contained microorganisms, fewer than sewage sludge amendment but not negligible. After amendment, there were no differences in the microbiological evolution in the two types of soil. In general, bacterial concentrations after crop harvest were lower than bacterial concentrations detected before sewage sludge amendment. Consequently, the application of sludge from water treatment processes did not worsen the microbiological quality of agricultural soil in this study at real conditions.

scholarly journals Using bioleaching to remove metals from sewage sludge intended for land application

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Nie
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Removal Efficiency ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Metal Removal ◽  
Heavy Metal Removal ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Sulphur Compounds ◽  
Recommended Level

Removal of heavy metal contaminants from sewage sludge is a necessity before it is used as an agricultural fertilizer (biosolid), due to environmental concerns and municipal, provincial and federal regulations. The bioleaching method is recommended as an economical and effective process for the removal of heavy metals from the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant (ABTP) sludge, some of them with concentrations exceeding the recommended level by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs guidelines. The Gram-negative thiobacilli is a group of organisms with physiological and morphological similarity and grows by oxidizing ferrous ion and reduced sulphur compounds. One species of thiobacillus, T. ferrooxidan , was recommended as an effective bacterium for the heavy metal removal from sewage sludge. This research involved the incubation of adapted sludge using fresh raw digested sludge and activated sludge of ABTP. Using adapted sludge for the bioleaching process, the method was tested in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) in combination with a series of jar tests. Results showed that the metal removal efficiency increases with decreasing pH, and the solids content does not affect the removal efficiency of cupper and zinc very much during short term jar test. The results from the long-term (20-day) CSTR test demonstrated that the high T ferrooxians-contained adapted sludge could remove copper from the sewage sludge of ABTP very effectively, by as much as 79.2%. In comparison, the simultaneous removal efficiency of zinc and cadmium were also studied for the same process and, they are 82.0% and 83.9% respectively. The TSS degradation constant rate during the 20 days' bioleaching was found to be 0.0522 day -1. It is concluded that Ontario should continue to apply sludge to agricultural land, as sludge is an economic alternative, promotes recycling of resources, and is a valuable fertilizer. However, the toxic metals in sludge should be removed from sewage sludge using the bioleaching process to recommended level before it is disposed as a fertilizer for land application.

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