Sludge is the solid remnants of the wastewater treatmentprocess. Wastewater treatment facilities, most of whichare publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), are able toremove many of the bacteria, viruses and chemicals thatend up in sludge. POTWs serve approximately 75 percent of the U.S. population.
1
Yet these facilities do not have enoughmoney to purchase the technology needed to remove all of the prescription drugs and chemicals that enter the wastewa-ter stream every day from our household and personal careproducts.As if that weren’t bad enough, POTWs must also treat stormwater and industrial waste that makes its way into sewage.Yet between 1973 and 2010, the federal funding that sup-ports POTWs has been slashed over 80 percent by budgetcutters in Washington.
2
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),the U.S. generates around 7 million dry tons of sludge everyyear. That’s approximately 50 pounds per person per year.
3
And approximately 3.4 million dry tons of sludge is appliedto farms, mines and other lands.
4
Along with the sludgegoes everything the wastewater treatment process could notremove. Worse still, we don’t even know just how manychemicals pollute sludge, let alone their concentrations orthe effects they may have on the ecosystem and food chain.
residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewagein a treatment works. Sewage sludge includes solids removedin primary, secondary or advanced wastewater treatment pro-cesses.”
9
-ing human waste, trash, soap, detergent, medicine, pesticides
the local POTW. And in many areas, storm sewers, manufac-turing facilities, hospitals and other commercial propertiesempty their waste into municipal sewage treatment plants.
health risks posed by pathogens in sewage.
10
Most POTWs
I
down the toilet may be jeopardizing both our health and the environment. Throughthe wonders of modern plumbing, it is all too easy to assume that once something is
coming back to haunt us in the form of sewage sludge.
2
employ several types of treatment processes.
11
Preliminaryand primary treatments, often called physical treatments,
12
In secondary, or biological, treatment,naturally occurring bacteria are added to the remaining sol-ids to help break down and digest organic compounds.
13
But not all POTWs employ an additional, advanced level of treatment known as tertiary treatment. In fact, it’s estimatedthat only 2 percent of the nation’s wastewater treatmentfacilities provide tertiary treatment.
14
Tertiary, or advanced,treatment is used to remove excess nutrients like phospho-rous through a variety of physical, biological or chemicalprocesses.
15
-tempts to kill any remaining pathogens, typically throughchlorination or the use of ultraviolet rays.
16
While wastewater treatment processes do eliminate manyof the harmful bacteria and viruses in sludge, they are notdesigned to remove the hundreds of tons of pharmaceuticalsand personal care products (PPCPs) used annually in theU.S.
17
Most PPCPs used by consumers end up in wastewaterin exactly the same form as before they were used.
18
Un-fortunately, sludge remains riddled with pesticides such astriclosan, over-the-counter drugs and heavy metals such aslead, copper and mercury that are known to have negativeeffects on human health.
19
-geted National Sewage Sludge Survey” (TNSSS), a multi-yearproject designed to characterize the pollutants in sludge.EPA collected sludge samples from 74 nationally representa-
retardants, 25 steroids and hormones, 28 metals and 72
of the land-application ceiling.
20
pharmaceutical chemicals in sludge; they were also foundin the highest concentrations in sludge samples.
21
Antibiot-
commonly detected antibiotic.
22
Unfortunately, the surveydid not look for any of the other 80,000 or more chemicalsthat are made in the United States.
23
what
isn’t
in sludge?
In 2008, the EPA conducted a study to determine the extent
-ing and fabric as stain-resisting coatings, and in nonstickcookware.
24
in wildlife and humans, and persistent in the environment,”
-life, producing reproductive, developmental, and systemiceffects in laboratory tests.”
25
sludge in Decatur, Alabama. They found some of the high-
that grazed on this land.
26
Wastewater and sludge are major sources of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the environment. Exposure to thesechemicals is linked to a variety of reproductive changes in
27
The National Committee on Hormonally Active Agents inthe Environment agrees that adverse reproductive, devel-opmental, cognitive and immune system effects have been
-rupting chemicals].”
28
Similarly, triclosan, a pesticide used in personal care prod-ucts like toothpaste and hand soap, was detected in 92percent of sludge samples collected for the TNSSS.
29
Of thechemicals used in personal care products, triclosan was thesecond most common contaminant; triclocarban, anotherantimicrobial, was the most common. A 2009 study con-ducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture
persists in the environment at low levels.
30
Biosolids v. Sludge: Good v. Evil?
Biosolids and sludge are the same thing. The term “biosolids”is the result of a campaign to make land application of sludge more palatable to the public. Unsurprisingly, “sewagesludge” is not appealing to consumers. For this reason, theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the WaterEnvironment Research Foundation held a contest to renamesludge. WERF is the research arm of the sewage industry’slobbying group the Water Environment Federation (WEF).
5
The term “biosolids” won and has been marketed aggressivelyever since.
6
EPA’s guidance document,
A Plain English Guideto the EPA Part 503 Biosolids Rule
, refers to sewage sludgeas biosolids in order to “emphasize the beneficial nature of this recyclable biological resource.”
7
The National ResearchCouncil defines biosolids as “sewage sludge that hasbeen treated to meet the regulatory requirements for landapplication set out in…Title 40 (Part 503).”
8
3
disrupting activities in these species.
31
Exposure to triclosanhas been shown to affect hormone-regulated physical devel-
treated with low levels of triclosan showed over-developmentof hind legs and a decrease in total body weight.
32
The presence of antibiotics in sludge poses a series of risksas well.
33
The widespread use of antibiotics and antimicrobi-als has allowed bacteria tomutate and become resistantto critically important medi-cations.
34
Antibiotic-resistantsuperbugs are one of theworld’s most pressing publichealth crises.
While domestic waste foists a long list of harmful substancesinto the sewage stream, industrial waste expands that listexponentially. In many municipalities, domestic wastestreams combine with industrial waste streams, placing aneven greater burden on POTWs. In 2009, industrial sites inAmerica transferred over 28,000 pounds of lead and leadcompounds to POTWs for treatment.
35
Lead is a potent neu-rotoxin that can cause brain and developmental damage toinfants and children.
36
It is important to note that metal concentrations allowed in
-atic in that heavy metals in sludge can contaminate cropsintended to become part of the food chain. Moreover, agrowing body of research connects heavy metals to increasedantibiotic resistance. Scientists from the University of Kansasand Newcastle University in the U.K. observed an increase inantibiotic-resistant bacteria after mixing organic compounds,including metals like copper and zinc, and bacteria typicallyfound in wastewater.
37
do help spread antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatmentplants, then they could be a more long-lasting source of re-sistance than are the antibiotics themselves.” This study illus-
heavy metals pose to human health and the environment.POTWs have few options to dispose of sewage sludge.Sludge can be applied to land, incinerated, stored in a land-
organic materials in sludge make land application and use asfertilizer attractive solutions for POTWs struggling to keep upwith the disposal of sludge.
38
Land application is by far the predominant disposal method.
of sludge is applied to land, composted or used to cover
39
Another option for POTWs is to sell sludge packaged asfertilizer.
40
sludge and sells it under the name Mine Mix. Private com-panies also purchase municipal sludge to sell as fertilizer.Kellogg Supply, for example, purchases sludge from the cityof Los Angeles and sells it under the names Amend, Topper,Nitrohummus and Gromulch. These products represent ap-proximately 70 percent of the company’s annual sales.
41
POTWs pay applier companies like Synagro to take sludgeand spray it on farmland as a potent fertilizer. The sludge-to-fertilizer business has grown into a multimillion-dollar indus-
incineration. And farmers pay nearly nothing for the fertilizer.
42
The bacteria and other contaminants in sludge can migratevia air, soil and water.
43
Heavy rains, melting snow and otherweather conditions can disturb sludge, forcing runoff intosurface waters or down through the soil into groundwatersources. In its 2002 report, the National Research Council
-
water contamination by runoff.”
44
Another cause for concern is the effect sludge has on ourfood chain. Sewage sludge and recycled wastewater leachchemicals and pathogens into soils used to grow food crops.
before eating, a fraction of biosolids amended soil will re-main sorbed to the crop.”
45
It is estimated that over 100,000 pounds of triclosan arespread on U.S. lands as sludge each year.
46
Until recently,scientists had speculated that triclosan could contaminate ag-
from sludge. Researchers simulated sludge application andrecycled wastewater irrigation on soybean crops. They foundthat the root systems absorbed triclosan from both the sludgeand irrigation water. Moreover, triclosan migrated to otherparts of the plant, including the beans.
47
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic stan-dards prohibit the use of sludge in any segment of organiccrop production.
48
But unfortunately, home gardeners can
get sludge off their hands.
There are also environmental concerns associated with landapplication of sludge. According to the Centers for DiseaseControl, antibiotic resistance has become a real challenge
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
What the SLUDGE is this?
Sludge is the solid remnants of the wastewater treatment process. Wastewater treatment facilities, most of which are publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), are able to remove many of the bacteria, viruses and chemicals that end up…
(More)
680
Reads
0
Readcasts
154
Embed Views
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
