Vermiculture as a tool for domestic wastewater management

Abstract

Organic waste management is a growing issue due to the unsustainable practices of its disposal. Sewage treatment plants are designed to treat wastewater to produce a safe effluent. However, one of the by-products, the sewage sludge which is disposed off in landfill or used as fertilizer in agricultural operation is high in pathogens. Sustainability can be achieved by Vermicomposting of organic matter which involves accelerated cycling of nutrients though a closed cycle whereby waste products are put to productive end use. Vermicomposting and vermifiltration are natural waste management processes relying on the use of worms to convert organic wastes to stable soil enriching compounds. Domestic wastewater management can be accommodated through these processes in a sustainable manner. A considerable reduction in pathogens has been noticed in the end product to a level that it can be safely applied to land. This paper provides an overview of the system characteristics of management systems utilising vermiculture, to manage wastewater. The process can be used in a small scale for household waste treatment to rural or urban waste management.

The Effectiveness and Safety of Vermi- Versus Conventional Composting of Human Feces with Ascaris suum Ova as Model Helminthic Parasites

“…By diverting urine, fecal matter and toilet paper become a suitable feedstock for decentralized vermicomposting, a process that was shown, by Hill and Baldwin (2012), to produce sanitized (low E. coli), mature (Solvita® 4±0) and stable (VS 60±10%) solid end product from human excrement, as has been shown similarly in numerous other studies including Bajsa, Nair, Mathew, Ho (2003) (sewage sludge), Yadav, Hait, Tare (2007) (source separated fecal matter), Benitez, Nogales, Elvira, Masciandaro, Ceccaniti (1999) (sewage sludge), and others for numerous animal manures and industrial wastes as reviewed by Sinha, Herat, Bharambe (2009) and Edwards, Arancon, Sherman (2011). Vermicomposting toilet systems have, moreover, been shown to be safer, easier and less expensive to manage than traditional composting toilets (Hill & Baldwin, 2012).…”

Challenges of Sustainable and Commercial Aquaponics

“…There are two methods for mineralizing organic material that could be implemented: (1) anoxic digestion in special mineralization or settling units using bioleaching abilities of heterotrophic bacteria (e.g., Lactobacillus plantarum) [58]; and/or (2) using earthworm species such as Lumbricus rubellus capable of converting organic wastes to water enriching compounds in wet composting or grow beds [59]. Vermiculture can facilitate a high degree of mineralization as worm casts contain micro-and macronutrients broken down from organic compounds [60,61].…”

Vermiculture Technology: Reviving the Dreams of Sir Charles Darwin for Scientific Use of Earthworms in Sustainable Development Programs

“…Suspended solids are trapped on top of the vermifilter and processed by earthworms and fed to the soil microbes immobilized in the vermifilter. Worms also remove chemicals including heavy metals and pathogens from treated wastewater [57] and the treated water becomes fit for "reuse" in non-potable purposes.…”