Sludge into Biosolids

Book excerpt: With the increased volume of sewage sludge generated as a result of extended sewerage and advanced wastewater treatments, its management is becoming of ever greater concern in both industrialised and emerging countries.During recent years there has been a worldwide movement toward a strategy of reusing and taking advantage of the energy content of residues, in particular of transforming a waste material produced by a treatment works (sludge) into a useful and usable product (biosolid). The selection of a use/disposal method or management system is often based on factors such as local traditions, personal experience, public opinion, etc., with less emphasis on the much more important technical factors, such as local geography, climate, land use, availability of disposal sites and regulatory constraints.Sludge into Biosolids gives up-to-date coverage of sludge treatments and of its use and disposal, focusing on the practical aspects of sludge/biosolids management. Operational variables and sludge properties affecting each management operation are discussed.Sludge into Biosolids provides a comprehensive overview for practitioners, graduates and researchers as well as politicians, decision-makers and public administrators, not only of the different options for using/disposing of sewage sludge and the requirements to be met for each of them, but also of the different methods for processing sewage sludge in order to modify its physical, chemical and biological properties, to meet the requirements for its utilization.ContentsPart I: Sludge Production and CharacterizationPart II:Options for Biosolids Utilization and Sludge Disposal Part III: Treatments and Operations