Development of the South African wastewater sludge guidelines

Abstract

The new South African Wastewater Sludge Guideline Series will replace the document entitled: "Permissible Utilisation and Disposal of Sewage Sludge, Edition 1, 1997" which deals with application of sewage sludge to land. The new guideline series will be published as 5 volumes: Volume 1: Management Options for the Use or Disposal of Wastewater Sludge, Volume 2: Requirements for the agricultural use of wastewater sludge, Volume 3: Requirements for the on site and off-site disposal of wastewater sludge, Volume 4: Requirements for the use of wastewater sludge in the production of commercial products, Volume 5: Requirements for the incineration of wastewater sludge, We envisage that Volumes 1 and 2 will be published at the time of the conference and that work has begun on Volume 3, 4 and 5. The paper aims to communicate the major differences between the previous sludge guidelines and these new sludge guideline series. For example, the paper details the new wastewater sludge classification system and the requirements for the characterisation of the sludge for classification purposes. The paper will also explain the approach followed in the development of Volume 1 and 2 and will elaborate on the proposed approach for Volumes 3, 4 and 5.

Impact of Fertilizing with Raw or Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge on the Abundance of Antibiotic-Resistant Coliforms, Antibiotic Resistance Genes, and Pathogenic Bacteria in Soil and on Vegetables at Harvest

“…Therefore, guidelines or regulations for application of sewage sludge for soil fertilization remain a challenge in many of these countries, in part due to a lack of research dedicated to evaluating the different options for sustainable and safe use of sewage sludge in agriculture, taking into consideration the local socioeconomic and climatic conditions. South Africa is an example of one of the few developing countries that has started implementing some innovative sewage sludge treatment options in order to reinforce restrictions and requirements for safer use of human waste in crop production (16).…”

Yield, resource use efficiency and trace metal uptake of weeping lovegrass grown on municipal sludge‐amended soil

“…The sludge was dried on concrete beds in thick layers of 25 cm before being applied to the experimental plots. According to the current South African sludge guideline, as described by Tesfamariam et al ., this sludge is classified as pollutant class ‘a’ because of its low trace metal content (Table ). The only exception was the high Zn concentration reported in 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 causing the sludge to be categorized as class ‘b’.…”

Biosolids and Sludge Management

“…Standards for capillary suction time, specific resistance to filtration, compressibility, settleability, thickenability and calorific value were described. Snyman et al (2006) described the development of the South African wastewater sludge guidelines as related to application of biosolids to land. The wastewater classification system and requirements for classification of sludges were described.…”