Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of an organic soil amendment generated from municipal solid waste seeded with activated sewage sludge

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study investigated the feasibility of using fresh activated sewage sludge as inoculum for the microbial valorization of segregated municipal solid waste and evaluated the quality of organic soil amendment generated. Organic fraction of municipal solid waste, which consisted of vegetative (vegetable, fruit and flower) wastes was seeded with activated sewage sludge and processed by rapid aerobic microbial treatment. Efficacy of microbial valorization process and quality of final product were assessed by physico-chemical analysis. Suitability of final product was assessed with regard to heavy metal content, pesticide residues, microbiological quality and phytotoxicity. Quality of the soil amendment generated was compared with the control product generated with a commercial microbial inoculum. Phytotoxicity experiments indicated the stimulatory effect of sewage sludge seeded soil amendment on plant growth but inhibition was observed in closed growth test due to the evolution of gaseous phytotoxic agents. The study suggests that segregated municipal solid waste can be effectively valorized with activated non-dewatered sewage sludge as inoculum and the quality of soil amendment generated was comparable to compost intended for unrestricted applications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ivanov VN, Wang J-Y, Stabnikova OV, Tay ST-L, Tay J-H (2004) Microbiological monitoring in the biodegradation of sewage sludge and food waste. J Appl Microbiol 96:641–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wu D, Liu P, Luo Y, Tian G, Mahmood Q (2010) Nitrogen transformations during co-composting of herbal residues, spent mushrooms, and sludge. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B (Biomedicine and Biotechnology) 11(7):497–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Petros S (2007) Management of wasted sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants, “Modern technologies for water and wastewater treatment”, Workshop. INTERREG III A/CARDS, Greece-FYROM

  4. Asagi N, Ueno H, Ebid A (2007) Effects of sewage sludge application on rice growth, soil properties, and N fate in low fertile paddy soil. Int J Soil Sci 2(3):171–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sepulveda-Varas A, Inostroza C, Encina-Montoya F (2011) Effects of the incorporation of biosolids on soil quality: temporal evaluation in a degraded inceptisol (typic endoaquents). J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11(3):33–44

    Google Scholar 

  6. Khalil AI, Hassouna MS, El-Ashqar HMA, Fawzi M (2011) Changes in physical, chemical and microbial parameters during the composting of municipal sewage sludge. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 26(12):2117–2122

    Google Scholar 

  7. Vaca-Paulin R, Esteller-Alberich MV, Lugo-de la Fuente J, Zavaleta-Mancera HA (2006) Effect of sewage sludge or compost on the sorption and distribution of copper and cadmium in soil. Waste Manag 26:71–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Arancon RAD, Lin CSK, Chan KM, Kwan TH, Luque R (2013) Advances on waste valorization: new horizons for a more sustainable society. Energy Sci Eng 1(2):53–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Luque R, Clark JH (2013) Valorisation of food residues: waste to wealth using green chemical technologies. Sustain Chem Process 1:10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Deportes I, Benoit-Guyod J-L, Zmirou D, Bouvier M-C (1998) Microbial disinfection capacity of municipal solid waste (MSW) composting. J Appl Microbiol 85:238–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Shammas NK, Wang LK (2007) Biosolid composting. In: Shammas NK, Wang LK, Hung Y (eds) Biosolids treatment processes: handbook of environmental engineering, vol. 6. Humana press, New Jersey, pp 645–687. doi:10.1007/978-1-59259-996-7

  12. Castaldi MJ, Themelis NJ (2010) The case for increasing the global capacity to waste to energy (WTE). Waste Biomass Valoriz 1(1):91–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Gautam SP, Bundela PS, Pandey AK, Jain RK, Deo PR, Khare SK, Awasthi MK, Sarsaiya S (2009) Biodegradation and recycling of urban solid waste. Am J Environ Sci 5(5):653–656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gautam SP, Bundela PS, Pandey AK, Awasthi MK, Sarsaiya S (2010) Composting of municipal solid waste of Jabalpur city. Glob J Environ Res 4(1):43–46

    Google Scholar 

  15. Prakasam TBS, Dondero NC (1970) Aerobic heterotrophic bacterial populations of sewage and activated sludge. IV. Adaptation of activated sludge to utilization of aromatic compounds. Appl Microbiol 19(4):663–670

    Google Scholar 

  16. McLean E O (1982) Soil pH and lime requirement. In: Page A L, Miller R H, Keeney D R (eds) Methods of soil analysis, Part 2. Agronomy 9. American Society of Agronomy. Inc., Madison, p 199–224

  17. Nelson DW, Sommers LE (1982) Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis, Part 2, 2nd edn, Agron. Monogr. 9. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, Madison, p 539–577

  18. Bremner JM, Mulvaney CS (1982) Nitrogen—Total. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis, Part 2, 2nd edn., Agron. Monogr. 9. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, Madison, p 595–624

  19. CPCB (2005) Central Pollution Control Board manual for analysis of municipal solid waste (Analytical quality control). CPCB, Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  20. APHA (1990) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st edn. American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF), Maryland, USA

  21. Edberg SC, Allen MJ, Smith DB, Kriz NJ (1990) Enumeration of total coliforms and Escherichia coli from source water by the defined substrate technology. Appl Environ Microbiol 56(2):366–369

    Google Scholar 

  22. Walter I, Martınez F, Cala V (2006) Heavy metal speciation and phytotoxic effects of three representative sewage sludges for agricultural uses. Environ Pollut 139(3):507–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Vázquez-Rodríguez G A, Beltrán-Hernández R I, Coronel-Olivares C, Rols J-L (2011) Standardization of activated sludge for biodegradation tests. Anal Bioanal Chem 401(4): 1127–1137. ISSN 1618-2642

  24. Hseu Z-Y (2004) Evaluating heavy metal contents in nine composts using four digestion methods. Bioresour Technol 95:53–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Lopez M, Huerta O, Valero J, Soliva M (2004) Raw organic material content and compost heavy metal content. Proceedings of the 11th international conference of the FAO ESCORENA network on recycling of agricultural, municipal and industrial residues in agriculture, Murcia, October 2004

  26. Jia-yin D, Ling C, Jian-fu Z, Na M (2006) Characteristics of sewage sludge and distribution of heavy metal in plants with amendment of sewage sludge. J Environ Sci 18(6):1094–1100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Brinton W F (2000) Compost quality standards and guidelines: an international view. A report submitted to New York state association of recyclers. http://compost.css.cornell.edu/Brinton.pdf. Accessed 24 May 2013

  28. Frenich AG, Rodriguez MJG, Vidal JLM, Arrebola FJ, Torres MEH (2005) A study of the disappearance of pesticides during composting using a gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry technique. Pest Manag Sci 61:458–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Rimhanen-Finne R, Vuorinen A, Marmo S, Malmberg S, Hanninen M-L (2004) Comparative analysis of Cryptosporidium, Giardia and indicator bacteria during sewage sludge hygienization in various composting processes. Lett Appl Microbiol 38:301–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Christensen KK, Carlsbaek M, Kron E (2002) Strategies for evaluating the sanitary quality of composting. J Appl Microbiol 92:1143–1158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Tiquia SM, Tam NFY, Hodgkiss IJ (1996) Effects of composting on phytotoxicity of spent pig-manure sawdust litter. Environ Pollut 93(3):249–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Daims H, Taylor MW, Wagner M (2006) Wastewater treatment: a model system for microbial ecology. Trends Biotechnol 24:483–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Johnson DR, Lee TK, Park J, Fenner K, Helbling DE (2014) The functional and taxonomic richness of wastewater treatment plant microbial communities are associated with each other and with ambient nitrogen and carbon availability. Environ Microbiol. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.12429

    Google Scholar 

  34. Franklin RB, Mills AL (2006) Structural and functional responses of a sewage microbial community to dilution induced reductions in diversity. Microb Ecol 52(2):280–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Lasaridi K, Protopapa I, Kotsou M, Pilidis G, Manios T, Kyriacou A (2006) Quality assessment of composts in the Greek market: the need for standards and quality assurance. J Environ Manage 80:58–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Nakasaki K, Sasaki M, Shoda M, Kubota H (1985) Effect of seeding during thermophilic composting of sewage sludge. Appl Environ Microbiol 49(3):724–726

    Google Scholar 

  37. Schloss PD, Walker LP (2000) Measurement of process performance and variability in inoculated composting reactors using ANOVA and power analysis. Process Biochem 35:931–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Yamada Y, Kawase Y (2006) Aerobic composting of waste activated sludge: kinetic analysis for microbiological reaction and oxygen consumption. Waste Manage 26:49–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Cotxarrera L, Trillas-Gay ML, Steinberg C, Alabouvette C (2002) Use of sewage sludge compost and Trichoderma asperellum isolates to suppress Fusarium wilt of tomato. Soil Biol Biochem 34:467–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Trillas IM, Casanova E, Cotxarrera L, Ordovas J, Borrero C, Ordovas J, Aviles M (2006) Composts from agricultural waste and the Trichoderma asperellum strain T-34 suppress Rhizoctonia solani in cucumber seedlings. Biol Control 39:32–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Lakhdar A, Scelza R, Scotti R, Rao MA, Jedidi N, Gianfreda L, Abdelly C (2010) The effect of compost and sewage sludge on soil biologic activities in salt affected soil. R C Suelo Nutr Veg 10(1):40–47

  42. Ozyazici MA (2013) Effects of sewage sludge on the yield of plants in the rotation system of wheat-white head cabbage-tomato. Eurasia J Soil Sci 2:35–44

    Google Scholar 

  43. McBride MB (2002) Toxic metals in sewage sludge-amended soils: has promotion of beneficial use discounted the risks. Adv Environ Res 8(1):5–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Gale P (2005) Land application of treated sewage sludge: quantifying pathogen risks from consumption of crops. J Appl Microbiol 98:380–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Horswell J, Hewitt J, Prosser J, Van Schaik A, Croucher D, Macdonald C, Burford P, Susarla P, Bickers P, Speir T (2010) Mobility and survival of Salmonella typhimurium and human adenovirus from spiked sewage sludge applied to soil columns. J Appl Microbiol 108:104–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Adewole MB, Ilesanmi AO (2011) Effects of soil amendments on the nutritional quality of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus [L.] Moench). J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11(3):45–55

    Google Scholar 

  47. Manisha P, Angoorbala B (2013) Effect of sewage on growth parameters and chlorophyll content of Trigonella foenumgraecum (Methi). Int Res J Environ Sci 2(9):5–9

    Google Scholar 

  48. Haghighi M (2011) Sewage sludge application in soil improved leafy vegetable growth. J Biol Environ Sci 5(15):165–167

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  49. Mohammad MJ, Athamneh BM (2004) Changes in soil fertility and plant uptake of nutrients and heavy metals in response to sewage sludge application to calcareous soils. J Agron 3(3):229–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Tamrabet L, Bouzerzour H, Kribaa M, Makhlouf M (2009) The effect of sewage sludge application on Durum wheat (Triticum durum). Int J Agric Biol 11:741–745

    Google Scholar 

  51. Liu Q, Zou X, Xiao C, Luo L (2009) Effects of sewage sludge application on growth of maize grown in aluminum-toxic soils. Published in: Proceedings of 3rd international conference on bioinformatics and biomedical engineering, Beijing, June 2009

  52. Kashani A, Pirdashti H, Bahmanyar MA, Kashani K (2013) Residual and accumulative effects of sewage sludge on bioavailability of some macronutrients in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) medicinal plant. Int J Farming Allied Sci 2(11):261–267

    Google Scholar 

  53. Yuan-Song Wei, Yao-Bo Fan, Min-Jian Wang (2001) A cost analysis of sewage sludge composting for small and mid-scale municipal wastewater treatment plants. Resour Conserv Recycl 33(3):203–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Central Pollution Control Board, Zonal Office, Bangalore. Authors thank the Chairman and the Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board, for the support and encouragement to carry out this study. Authors acknowledge the support provided by the technical staffs of CPCB, Bangalore, Organic waste Converter facility, Malleswaram, Bangalore and Lalbagh sewage treatment plant, Bangalore for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Pollution Control Board, Zonal Laboratory (South), Shivanagar, Bangalore, 560010, India

    V. Deepesh, Virendra Kumar Verma, A. Gnanavelu & M. Madhusudanan

  2. Department of Environmental Studies, Kannur University, Swami Anandatheertha Campus, Edat, Kannur, Kerala, India

    K. Suma

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Dr. N. G. P. Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, India

    Swathi Ajay

Authors
  1. V. Deepesh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Virendra Kumar Verma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K. Suma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Swathi Ajay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. Gnanavelu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Madhusudanan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. Deepesh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Deepesh, V., Verma, V.K., Suma, K. et al. Evaluation of an organic soil amendment generated from municipal solid waste seeded with activated sewage sludge. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 18, 273–286 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-014-0329-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-014-0329-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation