title: Decentralised schemes for integrated management of wastewater and domestic organic waste: the case of a small community.
abstract: This study assesses from an environmental perspective two different configurations for the combined treatment of wastewater and domestic organic waste (DOW) in a small and decentralised community having a population of 2000. The applied schemes consist of an upflow anaerobic blanket (UASB) as core treatment process. Scheme A integrates membranes with the anaerobic treatment; while in Scheme B biological removal of nutrients in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is applied as a post treatment to UASB effluent. In energy-related categories, the main contributor is electricity consumption (producing 18-50% of the impacts); whereas in terms of eutrophication-related categories, the discharge of the treated effluent arises as a major hotspot (with 57-99% of the impacts). Scheme B consumes 25% more electricity and produces 40% extra sludge than Scheme A, resulting in worse environmental results for those energy categories. However, the environmental impact due to the discharge of the treated effluent is 75% lower in eutrophication categories due to the removal of nutrients. In addition, the quality of the final effluent in Scheme B would allow its use for irrigation (9.6 mg N/L and 2 mg P/L) if proper tertiary treatment and disinfection are provided, expanding its potential adoption at a wider scale. Direct emissions due to the dissolved methane in the UASB effluent have a significant environmental impact in climate change (23-26%). Additionally, the study shows the environmental feasibility of the use of food waste disposers for DOW collection in different integration rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University London, UK.
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lijó
authors.affiliation: Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Simos
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malamis
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: González-García
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: María Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fatone
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University London, UK. Electronic address: evina.katsou@brunel.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Evina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Katsou
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors; D057231:Climate Change; D012722:Sewage; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Anaerobic treatment; Decentralised systems; Domestic wastewater; LCA; Short-cut nitrification denitrification