How far are we from closing the loop of sewage resource recovery? A real picture of municipal wastewater treatment plants in Italy
This paper presents the results of a broad-scale survey of resource recovery implementation in Italian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey comprising a large number of WWTPs done in Europe: more than 600 plants were investigated, representing a...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Journal of environmental management 2017-08, Vol.198 (Pt 1), p.9-15 |
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Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | This paper presents the results of a broad-scale survey of resource recovery implementation in Italian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey comprising a large number of WWTPs done in Europe: more than 600 plants were investigated, representing a treated load of around 20 million population equivalent (≈25% of the total in Italy). Conventional and innovative options for both material and energy recovery along the water and sludge line were surveyed, in order to i) offer a real and complete picture of the current state of resource recovery in WWTPs, and ii) underline key aspects and potential areas for improvements, as a baseline for future developments in the direction of more sustainable plants.
Survey outcomes showed that resource recovery is just in its infancy in sewage treatment: only 40% of plants perform at least one option for material/energy recovery. The action most often implemented is recovery of material from surplus sludge for agricultural purposes and the internal reuse of treated effluent as water for various types of plant maintenance. The production of energy from biogas also occurs frequently but only in large plants. On the other hand, some well-known options, such as external reuse of treated effluent or nutrients recovery, were implemented only in a minority of plants: this is likely due to limitations resulting either from strict regulation or difficulty placing recovered products on the market. In conclusion, an overall explanation of these driving forces within the system is explored.
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•This survey monitors sewage resources recovery in Italian scenario.•More than 60% of Italian plants does not perform any kind of recovery action.•Reuse of sludge (agriculture) and effluent (internal) are the most common options.•Further efforts are needed to reduce barriers against wastewater resource recovery. |
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ISSN: | 0301-4797 1095-8630 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.04.061 |