Department of Environmental Health, University of Malawi, Faculty of Applied Sciences, P/Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, 312225, Malawi.
Department of Physics and Biochemical Sciences, University of Malawi, Faculty of Applied Sciences, P/Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, 312225, Malawi.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 May 9;17(9):3296. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093296.
Many developing countries lack the infrastructure needed for the treatment of fecal sludge. One limitation in implementing available treatment options is the limited availability of land in the urban areas of these countries. This paper investigated the application of process intensification as a way of reducing the land area required to dewater and sanitize pit latrine sludge from informal settlements in Blantyre City, Malawi. The intensification of the sludge treatment process was achieved by enhancing dewatering through the application of additives and by combining the dewatering and sanitization stages. Nine combinations of sludge, lime and rice husk dosages, in addition to a control, were simultaneously loaded on unplanted drying bed units to dewater for 29 days. The study found a significant reduction of 21% to 73% in the land area required to dewater and sanitize pit latrine sludge. From the study, process intensification was shown to have the potential to significantly reduce the land area required to dewater and sanitize pit latrine sludge from informal settlements in Malawi cities. This makes it an option that can be implemented close to informal settlements, despite land limitation in these areas.
许多发展中国家缺乏处理粪便污泥所需的基础设施。在实施现有处理方法时存在一个限制因素，即这些国家城市地区的可用土地有限。本文研究了强化处理工艺在减少马拉维布兰太尔市非正规住区坑式厕所污泥脱水和消毒所需土地面积方面的应用。通过添加添加剂来增强脱水作用，并将脱水和消毒阶段结合起来，从而实现了污泥处理过程的强化。将九种污泥、石灰和稻壳剂量组合，外加一个对照，同时加载在未种植的干燥床单元上，进行脱水 29 天。研究发现，脱水和消毒坑式厕所污泥所需的土地面积减少了 21%至 73%。研究表明，强化处理工艺有可能显著减少马拉维城市非正规住区坑式厕所污泥的脱水和消毒所需土地面积。这使得即使在这些地区土地有限的情况下，也可以选择在非正规住区附近实施该工艺。
