It is not possible to eliminate all sludge. You say organic, but the rest of the discussion presumes all sludge i.e. eliminating hauling and disposal costs. However reducing the volume is commendable and environmentally responsible, and is accomplished via anaerobic digestion and/or digestion of sludge to produce methane. Re-use of wastewater is also a worthwhile goal and there are many other reuse options that are cheaper and more acceptable than potable reuse such as reuse water for landscape irrigation and industrial uses.
Published by Michael Clough, Senior Project Manager at T2 Utility Engineers
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Michael, I appreciate your comment "...reducing [organic sludge] volume is commendable and environmentally responsible..." What we have done for years now is to eliminate all aspects of any anaerobic activity. We never let any suspended solids over 5 to 10 Microns ever leave our aerobic digester; then in our "finishing process" we are well below 1 Micron to remove any parasites (including PFAS); adsorb or absorb all hazardous chemicals, heavy metals, etc.; and then using UV or Nano-Technology we remove all bacteria and viruses; to give us potable quality water effluent. Now by recycling purer water than most water utilities from our WWT, we can solve so many of our pressing water problems in our country and around the world: agriculture, droughts, replenishing our fresh water supplies, etc., etc., etc.
Published by Alan Weiss