SuSanA - Forum

Re: legislation on the feces used as fertilizer in different countries - by: biscarlos

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:38:16 +0000

Well, I searched Ecosanred publications, and experiences in the world and made the subject of UDDT, but still I can not find any official rules, available to validate the feces and urine as fertilizer, for he wanted some data on countries that have legislated on the subject. Unfortunately, the World Health Organization has just issued recommendations, which is on a smaller scale than what is required for validation shall carry out, at the country level in Chile.

Thank you very much for your interest in helping
Greetings!

Re: legislation on the feces used as fertilizer in different countries - by: muench

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:59:47 +0000

Hello,
Well, you only partially answered my questions. What search methods have you used so far and what have you found?
Whilst there are plenty of publications on the beneficial use of faeces (and urine) on crop production (see SuSanA library, www.susana.org/library), I am not aware of any specific legislation for it. The closest I can think of are the WHO Guidelines from 2006 but you must have found them already.

www.susana.org/lang-en/library?view=ccbk...p;type=2&id=1004
WHO (2006). WHO Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater - Volume IV: Excreta and greywater use in agriculture. World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland.

One way would be to find the existing national guidelines for biosolids or sludges from conventional wastewater treatment plants and then see if they could be applied or modified.

Regards,
Elisabeth

Bioelectric Toilets for Waste Treatment and Energy Production (University of Colorado, USA) - by: bioelectric

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:34:51 +0000

Dear All,
I would like to introduce our technology and systems that are funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I am an associate professor at University of Colorado, USA, and we are focusing on developing bioelectric toilets that can directly convert human waste and other waste materials to electricity and other chemicals for household and other uses. We have been working on this platform technology for several years and are leading the R&D work in low-cost modular system development. I hope you find the information below interesting, and please feel free to contact me at bioelectric2013 at gmail.com or jason.ren at colorado.edu for any questions and collaboration opportunities.

Title of grant: Direct Electricity from Fecal Sludge in Bioelectric Systems
Subtitle (more descriptive title): Innovative modular bioelectric toilets for on site human and animal waste treatment, electricity generation, and chemical production and utilization.
Name of lead organization: University of Colorado
Primary contact at lead organization: Zhiyong “Jason” Ren
Grantee location: Boulder, Colorado
Developing country where the research is being tested: Uganda, and a few other countries in discussion
Start and end date: November 2011
Grant type: Grand Challenges Explorations, Round 7 (GCE R7)
Research or implementation partners: Water for People, Universities in several Countries in Africa

Goal(s): The goal of this project is to develop a low cost and easy-to-operate bioelectric reactor that uses microbes to break down waste and convert it to usable electricity and chemicals. This technology could provide a self-sustainable solution for communities in need of both sanitary waste disposal and an energy supply.

Activities or key research components:
We focus on developing low cost and easy-to-operate bioelectric toilets to treat fecal sludge and directly convert waste to usable electric energy and chemicals. The principle and operation of bioelectric toilets are relatively simple, but it represents a completely new method for high quality energy and chemical recovery from waste. In the reactor anode chamber, microorganisms degrade fecal sludge as their substrate and transfer electrons to the anode during anaerobic respiration. The electrons then flow to the cathode through external circuits, where they are harvested for electricity generation or chemical production. The electrodes can be low-cost and locally available materials. Indigenous bacteria can be used as catalysts on both the anode and air-cathode to reduce cost and promote sludge treatment.

Compared to current sludge processing technologies, the bioelectric toilet has several advantages that are suitable for onsite application in urban poor communities:
1. Our lab and field tests showed that the bioelectric toilet stabilizes and degrades >80% of fecal waste within a few days. Odor generating ammonia was removed by >75% in the same period. Reactor design shows that a 3-5 m3 reactor can sustainably handle the waste produced by a 100 people community.
2. The toilet doesn’t need any energy input except occasional manual mixing, so the electricity produced can be directly used by the community. Our prototype reactor produced 8 W/m3 electricity in the lab, and our field demonstration showed LED lights was powered by the toilet.
3. Experimental results showed that microbial communities were resilient to the variations of sludge loadings and environmental condition changes. Compared to the reduced performance of anaerobic digestion at low temperature, our system can keep its performance at even 4 °C.
4. The requirements of operation and maintenance of an established toilet can be minimal, as the microbial activity will be self-sustained and the sludge volume will be reduced significantly. The system can also be easily converted to an anaerobic digester if needed.

Links, further readings, etc:
Our group at University of Colorado has a good track record on bioelectric system development. Since 2010, we have published more than 20 journal articles and filed 2 patent disclosures, and we have obtained more than $2 million dollars in funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, and private sponsors. Our findings were reported by more than 200 media, including National Public Radio, ABC News, Science Daily, Scientific American, Discovery News, C&EN News, etc. For more information, please visit the following websites:

1. NPR report at Reinvent the Toilet Fair: www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?a...4028&m=158887964
2. ABC-7 News interviews about the Poop-to-Power project with Denver Zoo. www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26211364/detail.html
www.thedenverchannel.com/news/18753218/detail.html
3. Zhiyong (Jason) Ren Faculty Website (moving to Univ, of Colorado at Boulder as an Associate Professor in August, 2013)
carbon.ucdenver.edu/~jren/research.html

Re: Solar Sanitation for Fecal Sludge Management - by: sahidul93

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:23:10 +0000

Yesterday I visited such treatment plant at Meherpur Pourashava, Meherpur, Bangladesh. There was no research, but as a rumor of poisonous bacteria, the plant is going to stopped. The farmers do not use it as manure.

Re: legislation on the feces used as fertilizer in different countries - by: biscarlos

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:17:47 +0000

Hi Elizabeth,
I'm looking for information on existing legislation in the world in terms of the use of feces and urine from UDDT's for crop improvement.
Mainly looking for these waste parameters required by any national or municipal regulation. This research is being conducted in Chile, to the need to validate the dried feces as a non-harmful to the health of those who eat food grown with this fertilizer.

From already, thank you very much for the help.
Greetings!

Photoactive silicones for self-cleaning and antimicrobial sanitary units (American Environmental Systems, Inc., USA) - by: hmalak

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:45:53 +0000

Hello,

I would like to introduce you to my GCE Phase-I grant funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which is performed in USA:

Title of grant:
Photoactive Silicones for Self-Cleaning and Antimicrobial Sanitary Units

Subtitle: Always Clean and Microbial Free Sanitary Units

Name of lead organization: American Environmental Systems, Inc.
Primary contact at lead organization: Henry K. Malak
Grantee location: Ellicott City, Maryland, USA
Developing country where the research is being or will be tested: if we will be awarded Phase II, our coating will be tested by: Sanergy Limited, Nairobi Kenya and PID, Ltd Mbazwana, Mbazwana in Africa, and Eram Scientific Solutions, Kerala, India.

Short description of the project:
In our Phase-I project we propose to incorporate recent advances in nanotechnology and hydrophobicity of silicone materials for the development and application of novel, cost-effective, durable, antimicrobial and self-cleaning surfaces for sanitary units and sanitary facilities.

Goal(s): Our overall aim is to develop and disseminate unique, cost effective, self-cleaning, durable, and antimicrobial coatings applicable to non-piped and minimal-water sanitation projects for both the urban and rural poor.

Objectives:
1. Develop prototypic self-cleaning and antimicrobial coatings.

2. Perform cost-benefit and process analyses for making effective coatings efficiently to meet Gates Foundation guidelines for costs of commercial sanitary units to less than $0.05/user/day.

3. Establish those working collaborations and/or partnerships with Gates grantees, companies, and international organizations in developing countries to fulfill our Objective 1 and their antimicrobial and cleanliness needs for sanitary projects.

Start and end date: 01 November, 2011 to October 31 2014, final report due 15 December 2014.

Grant type: GCE Round 7 Phase I & Phase I Extension
Funding for this research currently ongoing (yes/no): yes
Research or implementation partners: None
Links, further readings – results to date:

We have demonstrated in our Phase I that our novel coatings are: inexpensive - less than $0.01 per sq.ft, durable for at least one year with easy reapplying, hydrophobic and antimicrobial, non-sticking properties to dirt and biomaterials, easy to clean with minimal use of water.

Please see demonstration of our results on videos and pictures on www.youtube.com/user/SelfCleans and on www.selfcleans.com

For example this one:

A poster of our presentation is included at the Reinvent Toilet Event at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, August, 2012 is included below.

Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions you may have.

Regards,
Henry

Re: Biogas production from digested sewage sludge - by: AquaVerde

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:30:01 +0000

I came across a good presentation on

Biogas technology

a key technology to adjust fluctuating renewable energy sources and to recycle scarce resources from bio-wastes and residues
by Prof. Jens Born

See developments on ABR technology: Fermenter Technology - M-ABR (combination of fermentation and biofilm)

1. Biogas ABR-technology has a lot of innovative potentials:
◦ Simplicity and robustness
◦ Maximize efficiency
◦ Substrate invariance

2. Promising ABR-technologies are already introduced in waste-water treatment, but have to be adapted to the prerequisites in agriculture (dry matter content, .

I hope the presentation is of interest to you too.

Best regards,
Detlef SCHWAGER

Re: legislation on the feces used as fertilizer in different countries - by: muench

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:26:47 +0000

Hello,
Please introduce yourself first, give the context of your question (why exactly do you ask), explain the search methods you have used so far, and list what you have found so far. Once you have explained all that, then I am sure someone will reply to your post.

Regards,
Elisabeth

Introducing Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd.: a new partner organisation of SuSanA - by: susanaforum

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:53:50 +0000

We would like to welcome Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd. as new SuSanA partner organisation.

The following text is taken directly from their application form and was written by the partner organisation themselves.

Description:
Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is the part of Eram Group which has a proven track record in multifaceted activities ranging from Engineering, Infrastructure Development, Clean Tech, to Information Technology, among various other key sectors. We seek to go beyond the conventional thinking and traditional standards to a pro-earth approach. Eram Scientific is the venture that aims to develop innovative and utility solutions by combining cross platform technologies and domains.

We are a Social Enterprise, positioned in a niche market for developing socially relevant solutions. The key project of the Company is in the sanitation front with India’s First and Only eToilet, the Electronic Public Toilet. The Patent Pending eToilet incorporates a full cycle approach in sanitation using technology where all activities involving starting the unit, entry, usage, cleaning, exit, water levels, monitoring and control are automated using electronics, mechanical, web-mobile and digital technologies.

“Designed Thinking at its best!” is what Eram Scientific Solutions thinks and practices. Innovation is the hub of our thinking and action and our Research Lab works around the creativity of all team members and resource persons to develop solutions that are useful for enabling better living. Utility and the obvious benefit to the society are in the forefront when the sparkle of a solution enters our thought-process.

Activities in Sustainable Sanitation:
The plight of urban sanitation system has remained miserable in most of the developing economies, in spite of the advancements made in other public infrastructure and in the technology front. The existing conventional sanitation facilities in cities and towns are pathetic and lack proper hygiene and cleanliness. As a matter of fact, most of the times, people hesitate to make use of the public provision for sanitation. Another facet seen to be contributing towards waning the existing sanitation system is lack of appropriate maintenance, insufficient manpower to maintain the units and the unscientific waste disposal methods. It can also be drawn that the public making use of the provision also fails to keep the units clean after usage.

As such, we have developed “Next Generation”, revenue generating sanitation model with a unique ambience – “eToilet” India’s First Electronic Public Toilet. This product has made effective use of Information, Communication and other Engineering technologies for solving major inherent issues of public sanitation such as lack of cleanliness and lack of adequate manpower support to manage the units, among others. As of date, 400+ successful installations of eToilets is already underway all over India. eToilet incorporates a full cycle approach in sanitation using technology where all activities involving starting the unit, entry, usage, cleaning, exit, water levels, monitoring and control are automated using electronics, mechanical, web-mobile and digital technologies. Since the entire system is automatic, cleanliness is ensured throughout the operation of the system. The unit has adequate features to ensure safety and security especially for women and children. eT oilets can connect to a biological Sewage Treatment Plant in case drainage facility is not available.

Expectations in the Partnership:
The partnership with SuSanA, can lift us to obtain a platform to demonstrate and build up Unique/ Innovative solutions by us. By this, we can ensure International standards for all our solutions that can be proven and tested. Also, eco-friendly operations in our solutions can be set up and monitored.

Contribution to SuSanA:
We can provide affordable toilets which are often hindered by the trade-off between cost and the functionalities which need to address three critical issues viz.
A ) Cleanliness,
B ) Conservation of resources and
C ) Sustainability of toilets.
We, the pioneers of electronic toilets, have identified that the above issues are prevailing universally and this has a direct bearing on the health of communities. Hence, we concentrate on the following areas where the outcomes shall be in favor of providing sustainable solutions for the above three critical issues. Our design is to develop sustainable solutions for the above cited areas, so that it can be used effectively in households, slums or in urban/semi urban locations and cities to benefit the city dwellers and the large floating populations.

The SuSanA contact persons are Bincy Baby and Ria John.
Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd.’s website: www.eramscientific.com

[posted by Tilmann Vorhoff]

Are constructed treatment wetlands sustainable sanitation solutions? - by: Langergraber

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:44:43 +0000

I recently published a paper with this title discussing CWs in relation to the SuSanA criteria and that the systems point of view is important for sanitation.

Langergraber, G. (2013): Are constructed treatment wetlands sustainable sanitation solutions? Water Sci Technol 67(10), 2133-2140, doi: 10.2166/wst.2013.122.

I do hope that the paper is of interest for you.
Best regards,
Guenter Langergraber

Re: Energy recovery & waste treatment with floating biodigesters (Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia - LLEE) - by: robhughes

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:38:29 +0000

Thanks Julius and Gökce,
Yes external damage is a key issue with the plastic-style digesters, so we have been trying different materials such as more durable fibre-reinforced plastic, as well as protection options (eg against UV damage). We're also currently using modified HDPE water tanks.

Julius I'm not sure rotation around the axis would help mix very much unless there were large seams etc? Also would need to consider gas offtake.

We're also looking at using the bioslurry in aquaculture ponds at our test site and land-based sites, however on the lake itself direct output to fairly open fishcages is more likely. This is already done with the manure, so essentially we're adding a stage to reduce pathogens and extract energy. We're also working on floating gardens and planned to have these also part of an integrated system producing pigs, fish, vegetables, and biogas - basic versions are operating, but still need improvement. Gökce we've tried to encourage climbing & small shrubs eg beans, tomatoes, gourds, eggplants etc - so there is separation between the slurry application and the produce itself.

The temperature in the lake water is typically around 26-33 degrees, so fairly stable. Due to this, thermal transmission in water, and the simple/low-cost nature of materials involved we're only going to be able to achieve mesophilic biodigestion. The first round of systems are achieving 2-log pathogen reduction, which we can hopefully improve with some modifications.

We're still collecting data on the gas production - but it seems to be around 300L biogas daily average for a 500L system (say with 2 pigs - around 6kg/day = 13L bioslurry). We've been very happy in most cases with the amount of biogas being produced and used by people with small systems and few animals. Our next round of experiments should give us a better idea of the potential with human waste and water hyacinth. Of course the gas production by human waste will be less than with pigs due to the quantities, and we're keen to discover if we can supplement the feed to make it feasible without animals.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: Diversion for Safe Sanitation - Grant on Advanced Toilet with On-Site Water Recovery (Eawag and EOOS, Switzerland and Austria) - by: larsen

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:18:01 +0000

It was nice that you could visit our first field tests in Uganda!

I agree that Gravity Driven Membrane (GDM) filtration is an excellent technology for drinking water production. I very much hope that this technology will soon come to maturity and become wide-spread - my colleagues are working hard on this. What we try to do with the blue diversion technology is to solve the problem of sanitation in a comprehensive way. We are not only providing clean water for personal hygiene (hand washing and anal cleansing); we are also treating the higly contaminated wastewater, which arises from these activities. We can do this without much energy because urine, feces and water are not mixed in the system. Furthermore, we hope that our system promotes actual hand washing (and not only the theoretical possibility) by offering clean water directly on-site. I do agree that the system is too complex at the moment. What we are testing now is whether people like the services from blue diversion. If we obtain the necessary funding, we hope to be able to start the technology-simnplifying process in June this year.

Re: Diversion for Safe Sanitation - Grant on Advanced Toilet with On-Site Water Recovery (Eawag and EOOS, Switzerland and Austria) - by: JKMakowka

Fri, 24 May 2013 05:24:56 +0000

gitum wrote:

Before reading the comments and watching the videos, the first question came to my mind was how you were dealing with the fouling problem of ultrafiltration membrane. I assume it is a dead end filtration and hence it would be fouled in a short time. It really impressed me to hear that your system has minimum 10 years life time.

I have by now seen the system here in Uganda, and as expected it is based on this technology:
www.eawag.ch/forschung/eng/gruppen/gdm/index_EN
(with an added aeration pump and electric oxidation as polishing post treatment).

Personally I think such an advanced system should be better used to treat drinking water (here in Uganda), than recycling small amounts of wash water that is abundantly available anyways... but that is another discussion

legislation on the feces used as fertilizer in different countries - by: biscarlos

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:15:07 +0000

Hello
I am researching on existing legislation in different countries regarding the use of feces as fertilizer to improve crops.
If you can share with cases that they know would be very grateful.
Greetings!

Re: Diversion for Safe Sanitation - Grant on Advanced Toilet with On-Site Water Recovery (Eawag and EOOS, Switzerland and Austria) - by: gitum

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:19:10 +0000

Dear Tove,

thank you very much for the further information. I am looking forward to follow the upcoming news from March 2014.

Best Regards,

Gökce