Impact of source-separation of urine on effluent quality, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of a decentralized wastewater treatment plant

• DOI: 10.1016/j.psep.2021.04.022
• Publication Date: 2021-04-21T10:34:58Z
• Authors: Umakant Badeti; Niren Kumar Pathak; Federico Volpin; Ugyen Dorji; Stefano Freguia; Ho Kyong Shon; Sherub Phuntsho
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 11. Sustainability; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; 6. Clean water; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences; 12. Responsible consumption

Abstract The impact of urine diversion on the biological treatment processes at a decentralized wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was investigated. BioWin software was used for the simulations, and the model was firstly validated with data from a real WWTP. The simulations showed that upto 82 % N, 30 % P, 6% chemical oxygen demand (COD) load to the WWTP can be reduced by complete urine diversion but effluent N reduction was notable up to 75 % urine diversion. Under the current WWTP operating conditions, the simulations suggest that 33 % of aeration energy can be saved by 90 % urine diversion. Direct N2O and CO2 emissions in the treatment processes can also be reduced by 98 % and 25 % respectively. Indirect green house gas emissions can also be reduced by 20 %. Overall, the reduction in the discharge of nutrients and in the operation of blowers was found to contribute to a 22 % reduction in the operating costs (on energy consumption and nutrient discharge).