The document discusses rethinking resource recovery from wastewater by focusing on human urine as a valuable nutrient source. It provides examples of projects that recover nutrients from urine through processes like struvite precipitation and treatment with willow plants. These approaches can help close nutrient loops and reduce costs compared to conventional wastewater treatment. The document advocates for viewing human excreta as a resource rather than a waste and designing sanitation systems accordingly.
Trinity college dublin 2016 rethinking ressource recovery
1. Trinity College Dublin 2016
Rethinking Resource Recovery
From Wastewater
An Appetizer
Arne Backlund
Backlund ApS
www.backlund.dk
www.facebook.com/backlund.aps
www.researchgate.net/profile/Arne_Backlund
www.linkedin.com/in/arnebacklund
6. - RECOVERY OF RESOURCES
FROM WATER STATE OF THE ART
- INTRODUCTION
- DEMAND, REGULATION AND
POLICY AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
- INNOVATION, ADOPTION
AND GOOD EXAMPLES
- CONCLUSIONS, FUTURE TRENDS
AND THE ROLE OF THE IWA
CLUSTER
9. Present Human Organized Metabolism
- Open-Flow System
- Premised on Nature as Indefinite
- Exhausting its Sources of
Nourishment
- Without Paying its Bills
Could Human Beings in Politics
Reorganize Humanity in Nature
& Nature in Humanity?
10. Main Objectives of Sustainable Sanitation
•To Reduce Health Risks related to
Sanitation,Contaminated Water and Waste
•To Prevent Pollution of Surface and Ground
Water
•To Prevent Degradation of Soil Fertility
•To Optimise Closing the Loop of Human
Excreted Nutrients, Organic Material and The
Water Cycle Considering Energy & CO2 Balances
•Economically and Ecologically Sustainable and
Culturally Acceptable Systems
11. Experienced Problems From Rural Area
Work In Eastern Germany 1989 - 1993
•High Subsidies Building CWWTP
•Very High Subsidies Establishing Sewers - Up To 95 %
•Costs - Up to Euro 50000 to Connect one House
•”HOAI” 10 % of Total Cost
•Mastering the Art of Tendering
•PPP ”Betreibermodelle” & ”Kooperationsmodelle”
•Not Supporting Innovation & Visions about Ecological
& Economical Sustainable Sanitation
12. My Way - Innovative Production and Waste
Reducing Handling Systems in
Garnment Industri
13. Tentative Holistic Reflection
•We Can´t Solve Problems by Using More of
the Same Kind of Thinking (Paradigm) we Used
Creating Them!
•Conventional Waste Water Solution – with
Mixing & Dilution – Best Solution to Polution?
•Why do Human Beings with Two Outlets
Design and Use Toilets with Only One Inlet?
•When the Solution is Simple,
God is Answering!
14. Flow or Stream of Material
•Human urine contributes to about
80 % of the load of N and 50 % of
the P load of conventional domestic
wastewater
•Human Urine treated conventional
requires large amounts of energy
producing problematic sludge
15.
16.
17. Flow or Stream of Materials
•We Excrete most of the Nutrients we
Consume
•Human Urine contributes with only 1
% of the Volume of Household
Wastewater but contains 80 % of N, 55
% of P and 60 % of K and less than 0.6
% of Cadmium and 0.06 % of Lead
18. Phosphorus
•One Person Excrete 1 KG P/year.
•0.7 KG in Urine and 0.3 KG in Faeces.
•Human Phosphorus Returned to Soil
Would Cover 80 % of P Demand
•In Agriculture Short of Phosphorus
Human Excreta could be a Golden
Opportunity.
•In 100 years Phosphorus Could Be Gone.
22. 1) The first urine product is urine stabilized by
nitrification and destillated resulting in
amonium nitrate + P + S with a final water
content of 4 %.
2) The second urine product is struvite
(MgNH4PO4*6H2O), which precipitates when
magnesium oxide is added to human urine.
Struvite is mainly a phosphorus fertilizer
3) The third urine product is ammonium sulphate,
where ammonia is stripped using sulphuric acid
Present research condensing human
urine-derived nutrients
23. Value from Urine - project details
• Title: Bio-electrochemically-assisted
recovery of valuable resources from urine
• Project Acronym: ValuefromUrine
• Total Cost: 3.85 million €
• EC Contribution: 2.91 million €
• Duration: 48 months
• Start Date: 01-09-2012
• End date: 31-08-2016
• Consortium: 7 partners from 5 countries
27. Cadmium in Irish & Swedish Soils
Ireland Median values 0.33 mg/kg DM
5 % > 1.65 mg/kg DM
25% > 0.64 mg/kg DM
15% > EU Treshold limit = 0.8 mg/kg DM
Sludge Prohibited on soil > 1 mg/kg DM
Sweden Median values 0.19 mg/kg DM
5 % > 0.45 mg/kg DM
Soil Quality Limit Value 0.5 mg/kg DM
Sludge Prohibited on soil > 0.45 mg/kg DM
28. Cd in Human Bodies, Soil & Willow
WTI based on Kidney tollerance
2.5 microgram Cd/kg BW/W
Average Cd intake in Sweden
1 - 1.45 microgram Cd/kg BW/W
Swedish average agricultural soil 600 g Cd/ha
Cd in Willow steams 0.9 – 2.4 mg/kg DM
Cd removal 7.2 - 20 g/ha/year
56. Willow Evapotranspiration System
MARJATTA Tappernøje Denmark
From the first known
”unknown” system
in 1991/1992 to best
known practice in
2016 Recommended
by Authorities in
Denmark for
Highest Demands
Zero Discharge Sanitation
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/worlds-first-oldest-known-on-site-zero-discharge-willow-
arne-backlund?trk=mp-author-card
Estimated 7000 – 8000 Households connected
57.
58. Willow bed ready for planting april 2004
Sept. 2004 Willow are appr. 3 m tall
February 2005
June 2005
Willows August 2005 seco
growing season
4 m*38 m Bassin, 1.5 m Deep Møn, Denmark
63. Reduced costs using WW & Sludge
application to EWSRP
•Reduces Demand for Chemical Fertilizers
•By far Most Important Public or Private Cost
Reduction - Allocating Nutrient Removal to EWSRP
•Cost kg N Conventional N-Removal Often 10 Times
Higher than kg N price of Chemical Fertilizer
•Primary Cost Reduction Potential related to
Establishment
•Multifunctional Potential related to Cd uptake
64. Municipality Task Set Up (Question/Demand)
50 % Reduction in N-Outlet to Enköping Stream
Using Alternatives To Conventional N-removal on
CWWTP.
Consultant Answer/Solution
•30 t N/y Removed by Fertilizing 80 ha Energy Willow
Plantation at Local Farm
•20 t N/y Removed by use of Stored & Hyginized
Sludge from Septic & Black Water Tanks + Small
WWTP on Local Energy Willow Plantations
•10 t/N/y Internal Reductions on CWWTP.
65.
66. Enköping Municipality, Central WW Treatment
Plant, Central Heating Plant and Five Farmers
•System improving Closing Local Nutrient Loop from
WWTP and Single Households to EWSRP
•New Thinking (New Paradigm) about Interaction
Between Wastewater Handling, Agriculture and Energy
Production to Local CHP
•Good Co-Operation with Local Farmers Recycling
Nutrients from Wastewater Streams to Cultivated Soil
•Environmental Advantages
•Economical Advantages Distributed Between
Municipality, Energy Company and Local Farmers
67. Small steps towards a Metabolic
Shift reducing Metabolic Rift
Human Urine – Liquid Gold
High Quality Anthropogenic Nutrient Solution
from Stream Diverting Sustainable Sanitation
& Multifunctional Willow - Plant – Soil -
Systems Reducing among Other Metabolic
Disturbances caused by Cadmium
In Soil – Plant – Food & Human Body
