Inactivation of fecal bacteria in sewage sludge by alkaline treatment

✍ Scribed by Luigi Allievi; Antonio Colombi; Enrico Calcaterra; Annamaria Ferrari

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 555 KB
• Volume: 49
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0960-8524
• DOI: 10.1016/0960-8524(94)90169-4

✦ Synopsis

The efficacy of aqueous alkaline solutions to purify wastewater sludges destined for agricultural land application was evaluated. Some fecal bacteria were tested as sanitary-quality indices, these included fecal streptococci, which were found to be more resistant than coliforms. Hygienization within 10 days was obtained with ammonium hydrate at a dose that brought the pH of the sludge to about 10. Such a treatment was effective above IO*C. The total-bacteria number dropped only slightly, so that the sludge retained its potential biological activity. The efficacy of the treatment with NH40H was better than that observed with KOH.