Manga, M, Muoghalu, C, Camargo-Valero, M orcid.org/0000-0003-2962-1698 et al. (1 more author) (2023) Effect of Turning Frequency on the Survival of Fecal Indicator Microorganisms during Aerobic Composting of Fecal Sludge with Sawdust. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 (3). 2668. ISSN 1661-7827
Abstract
The study investigated the effect of turning frequency on survival of fecal indicator pathogens (E. coli, Enterococcus spp., Salmonella spp. and helminth eggs) during fecal sludge (FS) co-composting with sawdust. Dewatered FS was mixed with sawdust and composted on a pilot scale using different turning frequencies—i.e., 3 days (3TF), 7 days (7TF), and 14 days (14TF). Composting piles were monitored weekly for survival of fecal indicator microorganisms and evolution of selected physical and chemical characteristics for 14 weeks. Our results show that turning frequency has a statistically significant (p < 0.05) effect on pathogen inactivation in FS compost. The 3TF piles exhibited shorter pathogen inactivation periods (8 weeks) than 7TF and 14TF piles (10 weeks). Temperature-time was found to be the major factor responsible for the survival of pathogens in FS composting piles, followed by indigenous microbial activities and toxic by-products (monitored as NH4+-N). Our study findings suggest that even at low composting temperatures, the high turning frequency can enhance pathogen inactivation. This is a significant finding for composting activities in some rural areas where suitable organic solid waste for co-composting with FS to attain the recommended high thermophilic conditions could be greatly lacking.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | fecal sludge treatment; fecal pathogens; viable helminth eggs; viable Ascaris eggs; Salmonella spp.; E. coli; Enterococci spp.; nutrient recovery |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2023 14:48 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:14 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/ijerph20032668 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:195982 |