Environmental Health Engineering and Management Journal

en An investigation of agricultural use potential of dewatered sewage sludge تخصصي Special مقاله اصیل Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: One of the useful applications of Dewatered sludge (DWS) of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is its use as manure in agriculture; therefore, its quality characteristics should be specified. The aim of this research was to determine biological and physicochemical characteristics of DWS of Sari WWTP and compare them with standards, and also to investigate its potential use in agriculture. Methods: Sludge samples were taken from the sewage sludge of Sari WWTP. Sampling and analysis of samples parameters including fecal coliform, salmonella, helminth ova, carbon, nitrogen, C/N, phosphorus, organic matter, potassium, moisture, electrical conductivity, and PH, were performed during four seasons with three replications based on the standard method. Results: The fecal coliform, salmonella, and helminth ova of the DWS were 2.37×106 ± 1.06×106 MPN/1 g d.s weight, 47±12.92 MPN/4 g d.s weight, and 466±61.85 number/4 g d.s weight, respectively, therefore, the DWS of Sari WWTP was categorized in the class B of the EPA standard. The amounts of C/N, organic matter, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, moisture, electrical conductivity, and PH were obtained to be 12.7±1.15, 42.4±3.27%, 24.6±1.89%, 1.94±0.13%, 2.35±0.6%, 0.57±0.13%, 82±3.12%, 1.34±0.21 ds/m, and 7.41± 0.45, respectively. Conclusion: The DWS of Sari WWTP has a good fertility value but it cannot be safely used in agriculture and should be improved for class A by the Processes to Further Reduce Pathogens (PFRP), especially by composting.</div> Sewage sludge, Agricultural use, Fertilizer, Pollution control, Dewatered sludge 179 184 http://ehemj.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-407-9&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyed Mostafa Aghili mostafa.aghili.iran@gmail.com 10031947532846005550 10031947532846005550 Yes Corresponding author: Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Nasser Mehrdadi mehrdadi@ut.ac.ir 10031947532846005551 10031947532846005551 No Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Behnoush Aminzadeh bamin@ut.ac.ir 10031947532846005552 10031947532846005552 No Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Ali Zazouli Mzazouli@mazums.ac.ir 10031947532846005553 10031947532846005553 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health and Health Sciences Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran