An assessment of sewage sludge processing options in the region of Turku, Finland

摘要

MSS is a mixture of various organic and inorganic components and as such, leaving the WWTP, it can be considered a waste (water content around 70 %). However, treating the sludge in some appropriate way enables the use of it as an energy and/or material resource. Many recent reports and studies around sewage sludge treatment and disposal are concerned with phosphorus as a resource. Phosphorus being an important nutrient for plants and a limited resource by current means of exploitation is the main reason for sludge use in agriculture. This favours composting, as well as AnD, but heavy metals, pathogens and other toxins found in sludge are a risk to the environment if spread on farmland. Even if pathogens can be destroyed by various means such as pasteurization, it does not result in the reduction of other impurities in sludge.