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Biostabilization of sewage sludge in the Antarctic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2019

Carlos Banchón Open the ORCID record for Carlos Banchón [Opens in a new window] ,
Tamara Borodulina ,
Paola Posligua  and
Miguel Gualoto
Carlos Banchón*
Affiliation:
Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, Agrarian Sciences, Environmental Engineering, 25 de Julio and P. Jaramillo, 59304, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Tamara Borodulina
Affiliation:
Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, Agrarian Sciences, Environmental Engineering, 25 de Julio and P. Jaramillo, 59304, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Paola Posligua
Affiliation:
Universidad de Las Américas, Engineering and Agrarian Sciences, Environmental Engineering, J. Queri, 59302, Quito, Ecuador Dirección General de Intereses Marítimos (DIGEIM) - Fundación para el Desarrollo Marítimo Fluvial y Lacustre (FUNDEMAR), 59302, Av. Carlos V. y La Prensa, Quito, Ecuador Ministerio Nacional de Defensa, Instituto Antártico Ecuatoriano (INAE), 59316, 9 de Octubre y Chile, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Miguel Gualoto
Affiliation:
Universidad de Las Américas, Engineering and Agrarian Sciences, Environmental Engineering, J. Queri, 59302, Quito, Ecuador Dirección General de Intereses Marítimos (DIGEIM) - Fundación para el Desarrollo Marítimo Fluvial y Lacustre (FUNDEMAR), 59302, Av. Carlos V. y La Prensa, Quito, Ecuador
*
[email protected]
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Extract

Antarctica is no longer a pristine environment due to atmospheric pollution, fuel spills, inadequate waste management and wastewater discharges from anthropogenic activities (Harris 1998, Stark et al. 2015). Approximately 37% of the permanent stations and 69% of the summer stations lack any form of sewage treatment (Gröndahl et al. 2009). The characteristics of wastewater from stations are also of concern because they are a complex mix of contaminants containing human waste, cosmetics, viruses, dyes, detergents, medications, chemicals from laboratories and even microplastics (Bhardwaj et al. 2018). In Antarctica, treatment plants discharge treated water into the sea and then sludge is packed and sealed into drums for later shipment to Chile. Nevertheless, sewage sludge (c. 59–88% organic matter) could become a biosolid instead of being a waste if correctly stabilized. The Ecuadorian Antarctic station ‘Pedro Vicente Maldonado’ produced c. 200 kg of sewage sludge during expeditions in 2017 and 2018. Thus, the aim of the present study was to biostabilize sewage sludge using two methods (one thermal and one biological) at the Ecuadorian Antarctic station. As a result, the stabilization of sewage sludge produced a biosolid that was easier and more cost effective to transport, avoiding odour problems.

Type
Short Note
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 216 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2019 

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