Wastewater Sludge as a Resource

Wastewater sludge represents an increasing challenge all over the world; the quantities produced are growing, but all of the strategies for sludge management pose questions of their own. Simple sludge deposition is falling from favour, with ocean dumping being banned and landfills phased out; it is now recognised that ash from sludge incineration will have to be treated like hazardous waste, which militates against this strategy on cost. Many experts consider the application of sludge to farmland as best on sustainability grounds, but there are major concerns within the agriculture sector and from consumers regarding the health effects of this practice. These factors are adding momentum to the "productification" strategy for sludge recycling, e.g. producing bio-soils for non-food-related applications, construction materials or energy. These issues were intensively discussed at Biosolids 2003 by some of the world?s leading experts, and from the large and high-quality programme 34 papers have been peer-reviewed and selected for these proceedings. Topics covered include sludge minimization; sludge characteristics; dewatering; pretreatment and anaerobic digestion; treatment technologies for land use and hygiene; case studies; phosphate recovery; energy recovery; recovery of specific products; and future strategy for biosolids handling. These proceedings provide an unrivalled assessment of the different sludge disposal strategies and their associated technologies. They will be immensely valuable to any researchers, engineers and utilities concerned with the management of wastewater sludge.