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Nutrient recovery from municipal wastewater for sustainable food production systems: An alternative to traditional fertilizers - Newport, RI
Citation:
Theregowda, R., A. Gonzalez-Mejia, J. Garland, AND Cissy Ma. Nutrient recovery from municipal wastewater for sustainable food production systems: An alternative to traditional fertilizers - Newport, RI. NEWEA Spring Meeting 2018, Newport, Rhode Island, June 03 - 06, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
This research evaluates fertilizer production from struvite (i.e., magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate) that is generated from domestic wastewater and compares it with traditional commercial fertilizers (e.g., diammonium phosphate) and additionally, it compares different levels of nutrient removal (Chemical addition with - Modified Ludzack-Ettinger or Bardenpho or Modified University of Cape Town Processes with added Filtration or Osmosis) with nutrient recovery by using emergy as a sustainability metric tool. Thus, this study addresses 1) how the regulations drive the system changes and 2) how the conventional system can be transitioned to more cost effective more sustainable alternatives in nutrient management. The results shed some light on better nutrient management, the corresponding system energy expenditure, and how to achieve overall system efficiency and optimize trade-offs of treatment options for wastewater treatment plant operators, government regulatory boards, scientific researchers and the public.
Description:
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrient discharge regulations are becoming more stringent with increased environmental impacts, especially in surface water bodies. Many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been equipped with the necessary nutrient removal technologies to meet their effluent discharge permits. Though these processes can remove nutrients to very low levels, the treatment costs rise tremendously, burdening WWTPs and rate-payers for capacity expansion, increased capital investment and operational expenditure. In the past decade, nutrient recovery technologies have demonstrated potential benefits in recovering nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater as fertilizers. These recovery technologies not only fulfill the long-terms goals of compliance with nutrient discharge limits, but also provide WWTPs with a revenue source, that can alleviate the resource scarcity associated with the depletion of P reserves and improve sustainability and resilience of the communities. Thus, in order to develop sustainable water systems integrated with ecosystems services (i.e., phosphorous reserves), this research evaluates fertilizer production from struvite (i.e., magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate) that is generated from domestic wastewater and compares it with traditional commercial fertilizers (e.g., diammonium phosphate). Further, this study compares different levels of nutrient removal (chemical addition with - Modified Ludzack-Ettinger or Bardenpho or Modified University of Cape Town Processes with added Filtration or Osmosis) by using emergy as a sustainability metric. Emergy is used to provide system analysis including energy use, nutrient/eutrophication reduction, revenue stream, and whole system efficiency. The study will provide insights into 1) how regulations drive the system changes, and 2) how the conventional system can be transitioned to more cost effective and sustainable alternatives in nutrient management.