Wastewater Valorisation forPucará, Perú

Posted: August 27th, 2021

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Chapter 3: Wastewater Valorisation forPucará, Perú

Wastewater Valorisation 

Paradigm Shift from End-Of-Pipe Linear Engineering to Biogenic

Improper treatment of wastewater continues to impact negatively the welfare of many city dwellers downstream. Therefore, it is important to treat such wastewater effectively across the pretreatment plant in Pucara, Peru. Notably, well-treated wastewater brings about optimized sustainability as water, nutrients, and organic components are effectively reused for varied agricultural purposes. Although it is critical to remove pathogens from wastewater, the whole activity of conducting pretreatment does not wholly revolve around it. Imperatively, a linear paradigm shift associated with wastewater pretreatment seems to deter Pucara from making use of the recycled water for irrigation. Indeed, recycling the wastewater treatment plant would make Pucara’s dwellers experience a raised quality of life. Consequently, recycled water would be applied for agricultural activities, whereas the disposal waterways into Lake Atitlán would also be eliminated.

Natural Processes

With bones as the previous source of phosphorus fertilizer, now it is extracted from rock phosphate. Igneous and sedimentary are the two forms of rock phosphates associated with the production of P nutrients. Therefore, P fertilizers are derived from either heat-treated or acid-treated rock phosphates to break apatite bonds. This leads to P content’s water solution upsurge. On the other hand, high nitrogen levels are present in the atmosphere, and others are dissolved in oceans. Likewise, this makes N fertilizer to be readily available for plants through bacterial nitrogen fixation. Also, lightning, volcanic activity, and fossil fuel combustion help fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil. Therefore, the availability of these nutrients promotes agricultural productivity.

Water Stress Situation on Coast of Peru

More than 3 million inhabitants lack access to safe water on the coast of Peru due to poor sanitation. There is limited wastewater coupled with unsafe reuse since 70% of the entire population reside in the coastal regions. Essentially, this compounds the already water crisis that has been exacerbated by climate change. Hence, many families are in danger of exhibiting unhealthy conditions.

Diminishing Surface Water

The coast of Peru faces a high risk of climate change, which has adversely impacted the surface water. For example, most glaciers have lost more than 40% of their surface water due to glacial meltdown during dry seasons. 

Problems with N and P Cycles on a Global Scale

The discharge of nutrients like N and P from wastewater treatment plants seems critical in influencing the world’s social sustainable development goals. However, the availability of household wastewater directly relies on the presence of sewerage systems. Therefore, in the absence of sewerage systems, the level of nutrients is seemingly reduced since excreta is channeled into pit latrines or septic tanks. In particular, socio-economic factors tend to affect the total discharge of nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen regarding the surface water. Thus, the total volume of household emissions, human protein consumption, and the building of wastewater treatment plants are among the drivers that impact the discharge of nutrients. 

Wastewater Avoided Carbon Emissions from Reuse of Nutrients

Since wastewater treatment involves the application of on-site greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there has been direct emissions and lost fertilizer value. Additionally, all these happen because Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) tends to remove the possibility of emission reduction. Still, the utilization of BNR could otherwise promote fertilizer manufacture. The avoidance of carbon emissions is proven to raise energy recovery from biogas. Hence, the recovery of more energy leads to wide reuse of nutrients.

Wastewater Valorisation 

Poor water quality tends to endanger the public health, food security, and ecosystem services since untreated wastewater contains disease-causing pathogens. Similarly, wastewater from industrial plants might contain hazardous components like heavy metals. Such untreated wastewater occasions widespread disease and ecosystem damage as severely contaminates the environment. Therefore, water pollution in the coastal regions of Peru deters the possibility of water reuse. 

Biosolids Valorisation 

The mass and volume of dried biosolids from the proposed treatment system are 258,163 m3 per 1,381,525 m3, coupled with the processing of 300-700 kWh per ton of output energy.

There is a high potential value of treated Biosolids as crop fertilizer and soil-enrichment, especially with pathogens’ removal. Biosolids valorization is a soil-enhancing component as plant nutrients and organic matter, where the supply of N, P, and lime are applied. Also, Biosolids ensures a surplus level of less purchased nutrients among farmers, namely sulfur, manganese, zinc, copper, and iron. Therefore, with the surplus levels of nutrients, plant growth is enhanced.

Further, biosolids have alternative value for construction and landfills, where there has been an extensive production of fired-clay bricks. Besides, treated biosolids ashes are useful for encouraging landfills, thus promoting the activity of soil microbes. There is a potential market for treated biosolids in agricultural sectors as they are considered a ready component of increasing soil fertility. Overall, valorizing biosolids brings diverse economic benefits in the market, resulting from crop fertilization and soil enrichment. 

Conclusion and Recommendation 

Since ineffectively treated wastewater deems to affect many city dwellers’ public health, there is a need to initiate proper pretreatment to guarantee sustainable social goals. Notably, a linear paradigm shift associated with wastewater pretreatment seems to prevent Pucara from using recycled water for irrigation. Additionally, the coast of Peru faces a high risk of climate change, where the glaciated surface water diminishes due to dry weather conditions. Therefore, it is recommended that the valorization of biosolids happen effectively to promote crop fertilization and soil enrichment as a measure of sustaining social human development.  

Works Cited

Davis, Magus. L. Water and Wastewater Engineering: Design Principles and Practice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2020.

Metcalf & Eddy. Wastewater Engineering: Treatment, Disposal, and Reuse, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1991.