Faeces - urine separation via settling and displacement : prototype tests for a novel non-sewered sanitation system

Hennigs, Jan and Ravndal, Kristin T. and Parker, Alison and Collins, Matt and Jiang, Ying and Kolios, Athanasios J. and McAdam, Ewan and Williams, Leon and Tyrrel, Sean (2021) Faeces - urine separation via settling and displacement : prototype tests for a novel non-sewered sanitation system. Science of the Total Environment, 753. 141881. ISSN 1879-1026 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141881)

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Abstract

The development of novel, non-sewered sanitation systems like the Nano Membrane Toilet requires thorough investigation of processes that may seem well-understood. For example, unlike the settling of primary sludge, the separation of solids from liquids in a small-volume container at the scale of a household toilet has not been studied before. In two sets of experiments, the settling of real faeces and toilet paper in settling columns and the settling of synthetic faeces in a conical tank are investigated to understand the factors affecting the liquid quality for downstream treatment processes. Toilet paper is found to be a major inhibitor to settling of solids. While a lower overflow point results in better phase separation through displacement of liquid, a higher overflow point and frequent removal of solids may be more advantageous for the liquid quality.

ORCID iDs

Hennigs, Jan, Ravndal, Kristin T., Parker, Alison, Collins, Matt, Jiang, Ying, Kolios, Athanasios J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-641X, McAdam, Ewan, Williams, Leon and Tyrrel, Sean;
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