Search for keyword

SOLAR DRYING AND COMPOSTING OF SEWAGE SLUDGE WITHOUT A

BULKING AGENT

R.JA BOYD1 , SL DEACON1 and AM van NIEKERK2

1
Johannesburg Water (Pty) Limited, PO Box 61542, Marshalltown, 2017.
2
Golder Associates Africa (Pty) Limited, PO Box 6001, Halfway House, 1685.
Author: rboyd@jwater.co.za, Fax +27 (011) 945 1078

ABSTRACT

Johannesburg Water (Pty) Limited operates six wastewater treatment works on behalf of the
City of Johannesburg. They are situated in two catchments in the central Gauteng region
which drain into the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. In 2009, on average, 980Ml of sewage was
treated and 260 dry tons of primary and biological sludge produced per day.

Johannesburg Water has embarked on a sludge treatment and disposal plan to ensure
compliance with the Guidelines for the Utilisation and Disposal of Wastewater Sludge
published in March 2006. The treatment plan includes mesophilic anaerobic digestion of
elutriated primary and thickened waste activated sludge, sludge dewatering using filter belt
presses and the solar drying of belt pressed cake to enable composting without the addition of
a bulking agent. Trials conducted at the Olifantsvlei Wastewater Treatment Works indicate
that an A1a final product is achievable on a consistent basis.

Johannesburg Water progressed from trials to full scale operation based on this novel method
of sludge drying and composting over the past two years. The development of the technology
included:
• Monitoring of sludge consistency during the various stages of solar drying and
composting.
• Conducting regular monitoring of the microbiological quality of the final product.
• Measurement of key meteorological parameters such as wind speed, ambient
temperature, evaporation and rainfall.
• Developing comparisons between sludge solar drying / composting performance and
seasonal variations in weather conditions.

This paper describes the sludge drying and composting operation and the results achieved.
Approximately three to four weeks are required to solar dry the belt pressed cake from 18% to
the 45% total solids needed to produce a granular and loose material which when heaped
allows for sufficient air entrainment and composting. Heap temperatures comply with the
stability requirements and attain reliable Faecal Coli and viable ascaris ova destruction.

The elimination of a bulking agent simplifies the composting operation, makes use of low level
technology and significantly reduces the operating costs making this an affordable and
attractive disposal option. The technology has significant potential for application by many
municipal wastewater treatment operations on the Highveld and represents a step towards
reliable achievement of the requirements set by the Guidelines for the Utilisation and Disposal
of Wastewater Sludge.

1. INTRODUCT ION

Johannesburg Water (Pty) Ltd was established, by the City of Johannesburg, in January 2001
as a utility company responsible for the provision of water and sanitation services to the City.
The utility company is therefore charged with the responsibility of complying with the various
wastewater treatment works license conditions that includes the 2006 Department of Water
Affairs and Forestry publication, “Guidelines for the Utilization and Disposal of Wastewater
Sludge” 1 .
In 2009, the following dry mass of sludge was treated per day at each works:

• Northern Works 85 dry tons

• Driefontein Works 9 dry tons
• Goudkoppies Works 55 dry tons*
• Olifantsvlei Works 110 dry tons**
• Ennerdale Works 1 dry ton

Presently, the raw sludge produced at the Bushkoppie Works is transferred to the
Goudkoppies Works* and the waste activated sludge to the Olifantsvlei Works**, for treatment
and disposal. This practice will be abolished when the new sludge treatment facility at
Bushkoppie Works is commissioned in 2011.

As far back as 1995, co-disposal of solar dried sludge and solids waste in an existing landfill
site and composting were the disposal options implemented at the various treatment works.
These operations enabled the City Council and later Johannesburg Water, to comply with the
1997 publication of the Sludge Guidelines 2 and the 2002 Addendum 3 . By 2006, the solar
drying operation at Goudkoppies Works had been refined to include the composting and
curing of dried sludge without the aid of a bulking agent. The success of this operation led to
the development of a capital investment programme for implementation at the other
wastewater treatment works.

2. THE 2006 SLUDGE GUIDELINES

The “Guidelines for the Utilization and Disposal of Wastewater Sludge” published in 2006,
characterises the quality of sludge by three criteria:

• Microbiological class A, B or C.
• Stability class 1, 2 or 3 and
• Pollution class a, b or c.

Each of the criteria is divided into three ratings, depending on the quality of the final sludge
product. The guidelines also place fewer disposal restrictions on a final product that attains a
high quality rating in each of the three criteria.

Johannesburg Water, in selecting an overall classification of A1a for the final product, gave
consideration to the following objectives in the formulation of their sludge treatment and
disposal plan:

• Full compliance with the 2006 Sludge Guidelines at all of the works by 2012.
• Implementation of cost-effective and sustainable operations.
• The final product was not to be restricted only for agricultural land application, but also
other disposal options listed in the sludge guidelines.
• The final product was ultimately to be registered as a sludge fertilizer with the Department
of Agriculture.

The sludge plan, developed in 2006, consists of the following six operations:

• Mesophilic digestion of both waste activated and raw sludge.

• Dewatering of the digested sludge by belt filter press.
• Solar drying of the dewatered sludge on concrete beds.
• Composting and curing of the solar dried sludge without the addition of a bulking agent.
• Sampling and analysis of the cured product for classification purposes.
• Screening of the final product before disposal.
2.1 Microbiological Reduction

Past experience with the sludge composting and curing operations at Olifantsvlei and
Northern Works indicates that heat generation reduces Faecal Coliform levels and viable
Helminth ova counts to well below the requirements of the 2006 Sludge Guidelines for a Class
A sludge. Experience also shows that moisture content and temperature needs to be
controlled in order for the composting and curing processes to proceed.

2.2 Sludge Stabilisation

The odour and vector attraction reduction option initially selected by Johannesburg Water, in
order to attain a class 1 final product, was option 1 i.e. a 38% reduction of volatile solids (VS).
However, a 38% VS reduction could not be achieved by mesophilic digestion alone, due to
the digester feed mixture being about 90% waste activated and 10% raw fermented sludge.
Although mesophilic digestion is essential for the prevention of potential odour and vector
attraction problems during solar drying of the sludge, option 5 was selected as the ultimate
solution i.e. the use of the composting process at a temperature > 40o C (average 45oC) for a
minimum period of 14 days followed by a curing period. The quality of the final product falls
within the requirements of a Class (1) sludge.

2.3 Pollution Content

The City of Johannesburg has few industries that discharge organic or inorganic pollutants
into the sewage network system that adversely impact on the quality of the sludge produced
at the various Works. The heavy metal content of the final sludge product is therefore well
within the limits specified in the Sludge Guidelines for a Class (a) sludge.

3. SLUDGE TREAT MENT OPERAT ION

3.1 Mesophilic digestion

Although mesophilic digestion had been implemented at Northern, Olifantsvlei and

Goudkoppies Works, unsatisfactory volatile solids reduction was achieved due to continual
operational and mechanical breakdown problems associated with the existing steam injection
heating and digester gas mixing systems.

During the refurbishment exercise at Northern Works, the existing heating and mixing
equipment was replaced with mechanical recirculation pumps for mixing and external heat
exchangers for heating of the digester contents. Similar upgrades are planned for
implementation at Olifantsvlei and Goudkoppies Works except that the recirculation pump
system will be replaced by a reciprocating disk type mixer. The mesophilic digestion process,
incorporating the reciprocating disk type mixers and heat exchangers, was recently installed
at the Driefontein Works and it is planned to install the same system at the Bushkoppie Works
in the near future. Digesters in Johannesburg are designed to operate at a temperature of
around 36 oC and a nominal retention time of 15 days.

3.2 Digested sludge dewatering

Over the past 20 years, Johannesburg has dewatered both activated and digested sludge
using belt filter presses mainly due to the ease of operation, inexpensive maintenance costs
and low cationic polymer dosing rates. The belt filter presses are presently operated to
achieve a sludge cake of around 17% total solids (TS) concentration at an average polymer
dosing rate of 3.7 kg of polymer per dry ton of sludge dewatered. It is anticipated that when
the new digester heating and mixing systems are commissioned, a sludge cake of > 20% TS
concentration would be achieved at a dosing rate of < 4.0 kg of polymer per dry ton of sludge
dewatered.
3.3 Solar drying of digested sludge

Past experience with the solar sludge drying operation at Goudkoppies Works indicates that
before the dewatered sludge cake is effectively composted, without the addition of a bulking
agent, the dry solids concentration needs to be increased from 18% to between 45% and 55%
dry solids concentration.

Concrete drying beds were constructed at Goudkoppies Works in 1995 for the solar drying of
digested sludge before disposal in the adjacent solids waste landfill site. This disposal
operation was abandoned in 2002 due to operational problems associated with landfill
compaction, limited dried sludge storage space during wet periods and steeply increasing
disposal costs. Operational costs were reduced by trucking dewatered sludge cake to
privately owned farms for disposal on maize lands. This disposal option is seen by
Johannesburg Water as only an interim solution since the sludge off-loaded on farmland is not
always immediately ploughed into the soil by the farmer, as required by the Sludge
Guidelines.

Figure 1: Solar drying of sludge with a mechanical turner

Full-scale sludge solar drying on the existing drying beds at Olifantsvlei Works, indicates that
sludge deposited on the drying bed to a depth of approximately 400 mm would dry from 18%
to between 45% and 55% dry solids concentration within 27 days in winter and sooner during
the summer months, depending on rainfall. Daily turning of the sludge is essential for reducing
the drying time as a crust develops which seals in the moisture, as can be seen in Figure 1.
Results also indicate that by increasing the dewatered sludge dry solids concentration from
17% to 20% reduces the solar drying time by about 7 days.

Table 1: Olifantsvlei drying bed and weather information

Drying Dates Loading Loading Drying Evaporation Rain Wind Ambient

bed populated rate rate time (mm/d) (mm) speed temp
(m3/m2) (kg dry/m2) (days) (km/h) ( 0 C)

6/5/09 -
DB(e) 14/5/09 0.31 71 26 - 27 4.3 0 3.5 12.2
8/6/09 -
DB(w) 24/6/09 0.16 35.5 23 - 26 4.4 0 3.7 9.8
18/8/09 -
DB(w) 27/8/09 0.14 25.6 19 - 21 8.0 0 4.1 15.6
Drying Dates Loading Loading Drying Evaporation Rain Wind Ambient
bed populated rate rate time (mm/d) (mm) speed temp
(m3/m2) (kg dry/m2) (days) (km/h) ( 0 C)

3/9/09 -
DB(e) 14/9/09 0.23 40.5 21 - 22 8.4 30 4.7 18.1
15/9/09 -
DB(w) 22/9/09 0.22 38.7 24 - 34 8.6 52 4.8 18.6
6/10/09 -
DB(n)* 14/10/09 0.2 39.1 43 - 50 nd 0 nd nd
6/10/09 -
DB(e)** 16/10/09 0.19 36.4 24 - 26 8.4 74 4.9 19.1
19/10/09 -
DB(w) 6/11/09 0.18 36.6 23 - 25 7.2 96 4.9 18.4

* DB(n) dried in a shed, the drying time doubled when compared with DB(e)** uncovered.
nd – no data
3.4 Composting of solar dried sludge

Sludge dried to the required total solids concentration allows for the sludge to be heaped to
around three meters high with a front-end loader, without the heap slumping or forming large
anaerobic clods. Required results are obtained when the particle sizes range from 5 to 50mm,
this provides the structure required to achieve the right balance between porosity (air space
within the composting mass) and texture (available surface area for aerobic microbial activity).
It allows for passive air movement throughout the heap which is essential for the composting
process to proceed. Above 60% dry solids concentration, rapid uncontrolled heating of the
heap to above 60oC is experienced, this causes loss of moisture and the composting process
to slow as microorganisms die or become dormant 4 .

Under the required conditions, temperatures in the heaps rise rapidly to between 40 oC and
50 oC and when the average temperature reaches above 60oC, the heaps are completely
broken down and rebuilt using a front end loader. Large anaerobic sludge clods (Figure 2) are
broken up using the mechanical turner. After rebuilding, temperatures are observed to slowly
rise to the required average temperature and breaking down and rebuilding of the heaps is
repeated if temperatures rise above 60oC (Figure 3). The composting period is complete once
the heap has complied with the Option 5 stability requirements of the Sludge Guidelines
(minimum temperature of
40 0C with a daily average of
45 0C or higher for fourteen
days). Samples are taken for
laboratory analysis. Heaps
that comply with the Sludge
Guideline requirements for
microbiological class 1 are
screened through a 15 mm
mesh before curing.
Satisfactory stabilisation of
the final product appears to
be achieved when the volatile
solids concentration has
been reduced to below 0.45
kg / kg DS after curing.

Figure 2: Composting of sludge without a bulking agent

The control of temperature and moisture content, at between 45% DS (start) and 65% DS
(end), is essential for the success of the composting process. The final curing stage ensures
that the final product does not cause either an odour or vector attraction problem. With C:N
ratios below 20:1 the available carbon is fully utilised without stabilising all of the nitrogen.
The excess nitrogen is then lost to the atmosphere as ammonia or nitrous oxide 4.

Sludge Composting

60

50
Temperature

Temperature
40
Ambient temp
30
Limit - low d.s.
20
Limit - high d.s.
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

June - July 2009

Sludge Composting

60

50
Temperature

40 Temperature
Ambient temp
30
Limit - low d.s.
20
Limit - hgih d.s.
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

October - November 2009

Figure 3: Compost heap and ambient temperatures

4. PERFORMANCE OF SLUDGE TREAT MENT PROGRAMME

4.1 Full Scale Operation

The sludge treatment operations at both Olifantsvlei and Goudkoppies Works include the
solar drying of dewatered digested sludge by mechanical turning, heaping of the dried sludge
for composting, fine screening and curing before despatch of the final stabilised product. The
results of the full-scale plant operation are reflected below.
4.2 Sludge Quality

In order to classify the final product in terms of the sludge guidelines, all heaps are sampled
and analysed for F.Coli and viable Helminth Ova counts. Dewatered sludge still contains high
microbial counts both in terms of F.Coli and viable Helminth ova even after mesophilic
digestion however, the final product generally contains no viable F.Coli organisms or Helminth
ova (Table 3).
Analysis of all of the heavy metal concentrations indicates that the concentrations are well
below the requirements of the 2006 Sludge Guidelines (Table 2).
4.3 Laboratory analyses

Table 2: Laboratory results

Quality
Units Class Final product
parameters

Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen as N g / kg DS - 38

Total Phosphorus as P g / kg DS - 45
Potassium as K mg / kg DS - 4300
Moisture % WS - 35
Total Solids % DS - 65
pH - 6.0

Permit
Class A
Parameters Units Final product
sludge
F. Coliforms CFU / 1g DS < 1000 0
Viable Helminth ova Ova / 4g DS < 1.0 0

Permit Class a
Units Final product
parameters sludge

Arsenic as As mg / kg DS 40 11
Cadmium as Cd mg / kg DS 40 2
Chromium as Cr mg / kg DS 1200 199
Copper as Cu mg / kg DS 1500 490
Lead as Pb mg / kg DS 300 66
Mercury as Hg mg / kg DS 15 <1
Nickel as Ni mg / kg DS 420 150
Zinc as Zn mg / kg DS 2800 1418

Figure 4: Final sludge product

Table 3: Olifantsvlei compost heap microbiological results

Heap F.Coli Ascaris Sample Heap F.Coli Sample Heap F.Coli Sample Heap F.Coli Sample
CFU/ Ova/ date CFU/ date CFU/ date CFU/ date
1g DS 1g DS 1g DS 1g DS 1g DS
A 0 2008/04/17 U 0 2008/10/23 J09 140 2009/05/12 AD09 20 2009/07/30
B 0 2008/05/14 V 0 2008/10/30 K09 850 2009/05/13 AE09 0 2009/07/30
C 0 2008/06/02 W 0 2008/10/30 L09 530 2009/05/13 AF09 0 2009/07/30
D 0 2008/06/05 X 0 2008/10/30 M09 0 2009/05/28 AG09 0 2009/08/11
E 0 0 2008/08/25 Y 0 2008/10/30 N09 0 2009/05/28 AH09 0 2009/08/11
F 0 2008/08/07 Z 0 2008/12/17 O09 0 2009/06/04 AI09 0 2009/09/16
G 0 0 2008/08/19 AA 0 2008/12/17 P09 0 2009/06/04 AJ09 0 2009/09/16
H 0 0 2008/08/19 AB 0 2008/12/18 Q09 0 2009/06/04 AK09 0 2009/09/15
I 0 0 2008/08/19 AC 0 2009/01/15 R09 ns AL09 0 2009/09/15
J 0 0 2008/08/19 AD 15 2009/01/15 S09 0 2009/06/30 AM09 0 2009/09/22
K 0 0 2008/08/19 AE 15 2009/01/15 T09 0 2009/06/30 AN09 0 2009/09/29
L 0 0 2008/08/19 A09 0 2009/03/30 U09 54 2009/06/30 AO09 0 2006/10/06
M 0 2008/09/22 B09 33 2009/03/30 V09 760 2009/06/30 AP09 0 2009/10/12
N 0 0 2008/09/22 C09* 9400 2009/03/30 W09** 3100 2009/06/30 AQ09 0 2009/10/26
O 0 2008/09/22 D09 0 2009/03/30 X09 0 2009/06/30 AR09 0 2009/10/27
P 0 2008/09/22 E09 0 2009/03/30 Y09** 1300 2009/06/30 AS09 0 2009/10/29
Q 0 2008/09/22 F09 0 2009/03/30 Z09 0 2009/07/16 AT09 55 2009/11/04
R 0 2008/09/22 G09 67 2009/05/12 AA09 0 2009/07/16 AU09 0 2009/11/11
S 0 2008/10/23 H09 110 2009/05/12 AB09 0 2009/07/22
T 0 0 2008/10/23 I09 33 2009/05/12 AC09 0 2009/07/30

* C09 - failed as sampled tongue protruding from the pile, important to ensure that heaps are properly formed.
** W 09, Y09 - failed due to wet anaerobic sludge patches, heaps were broken, turned, dried and re-formed, both passed when re-sampled.
ns - not sampled
5. SLUDGE DISPOSAL OPERATIONAL COSTS

Experience with sludge composting using a bulking agent, the disposal of dewatered sludge cake
on private farmland and solar drying / composting, allowed for a comparison to be made between
the various operational costs of each operation. The following operational cost comparison,
excluding sludge dewatering on the belt filter presses, was determined as:

• Composting using a bulking agent = R 560 / dry ton of sludge treated

• Remote farm disposal = R 360 / dry ton of sludge transported
• Solar drying / composting + land disposal = R 270 / dry ton of sludge treated

All costs exclude Interest and Redemption.

The above operational costs have been adjusted to 2009.

Compost produced at Northern Works was registered with the Department of Agriculture as a
sludge fertilizer and sold to a private agent through the normal public tender procedure. This
process enables some of the production costs to be recovered. The operating costs for
composting using a bulking agent, includes costs recovered by the sale of the compost to the
private agent. By ultimately registering the new final product, an operational cost reduction in line
with that achieved by Northern Works, could be expected. The above cost for the solar dried /
composted sludge operation does not however include any potential cost saving through
potential sales.

6. CONCLUSIONS

Johannesburg Water has a significant challenge in terms of the quantity of sludge to be

managed, processed and disposed of from their wastewater treatment works and the introduction
of the 2006 South Africa Sludge Guidelines heralded a new era in the management and disposal
of sewage sludge.

Johannesburg Water has responded to this new challenge by the development of an innovative
sludge treatment programme, which involves the components of mesophilic digestion,
mechanical sludge dewatering, mechanically assisted solar sludge drying and composting and
curing of the dried sludge, without the need for a bulking agent. The results attained at both the
Olifantsvlei and Goudkoppies Works are very promising and encouraged the implementation of
the programme at the other wastewater treatment works. When finally implemented, the sludge
treatment programme will reliably produce a high-quality, stabilised and safe material, fit for
registration and use as an A1a product in terms of the 2006 Sludge Guidelines.

Although the process incorporates a low level of technology, it does require strict adherence to
the defined limits for dry solids concentration during solar drying and moisture content and
temperature control during the composting and curing operations. Strict adherence to the
requirements of the overall operation is essential to the successful production of an A1a quality
product.

The technology has significant potential for application by many municipal wastewater treatment
operations and represents a step towards reliable achievement of the requirements set by the
Guidelines for the Utilisation and Disposal of Wastewater Sludge.
7. REFERENCES

1. Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and Water Research Commission TT 262/97
(2006). Guidelines for the utilization and disposal of wastewater sludge.

2. Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Department of Water Affairs and

Forestry, Water Institute of SA and Water Research Commission TT 85/97 (1997).
Permissible utilization and disposal of sewage sludge.

3. Water Research Commission and Department of Water Affairs and Forestry

TT 154/01 (2002). Addendum No1 to Edition 1 (1997) of Permissible utilization and
disposal of sewage sludge.

4. Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service (1987). On-Farm Composting

Handbook