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Accelerating nutrient release and pathogen inactivation from human waste by different pretreatment methods.

Han Cui1, Jing Wang1, Xiaoyu Cai1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.

The Science of the Total Environment
|May 25, 2020
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Summary

Potassium ferrate (PF) pretreatment effectively breaks down human waste, enhancing nutrient release and reducing pathogens. This method offers a safe and rapid solution for waste treatment and resource recovery.

Keywords:
AlkalineHuman wasteNutrient releasePathogenic microorganismPeroxymonosulfatePotassium ferrate

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Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Water Treatment
  • Biotechnology

Background:

  • Human waste treatment faces challenges in volume reduction and pathogen control.
  • Nutrient recovery from waste is crucial for sustainability.
  • Existing methods often struggle with efficient hydrolysis and complete pathogen inactivation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate potassium ferrate (PF), peroxymonosulfate (PMS), and combined PMS+PF as pretreatment/co-treatment methods for human waste.
  • To assess their effectiveness in enhancing nutrient release (organic matter, nitrogen, polysaccharides).
  • To determine their efficacy in reducing pathogenic microorganisms and volatile solids.

Main Methods:

  • Human waste was treated with PF, PMS, or PMS+PF as pretreatment or co-treatment.
  • Key parameters measured included soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD), volatile solids reduction, polysaccharide release, and pathogen inactivation (total coliforms, helminths eggs).
  • Alkaline (ALK) pretreatment was used as a comparative method.

Main Results:

  • PF pretreatment showed the highest hydrolysis and organic matter release, with a significant sCOD difference (3117.0 mg/L).
  • PF pretreatment achieved 79.2% volatile solids reduction and 198.5 mg/L polysaccharide release.
  • All methods inactivated pathogens; PF pretreatment was most effective against total coliforms (3.5 log decrease).
  • PF pretreatment and PMS+PF co-treatment enhanced nitrogen release, with PMS+PF yielding the highest total soluble nitrogen (372.8 mg/L).

Conclusions:

  • Potassium ferrate (PF) pretreatment is the most effective method for human waste disintegration, promoting safe and rapid volume reduction.
  • PF pretreatment significantly enhances nutrient release and pathogen control.
  • This study presents PF pretreatment as a promising approach for efficient human waste management and resource recovery.