Resource-Oriented Sanitation: On-Farm Septage Treatment and Nutrient Recycling for Sustainable Agriculture in the Philippines

Carla Mae Jabar Pausta, Michael Angelo Baliwag Promentilla, Alberto Leyes Longos, Aileen Huelgas Orbecido, Arnel Bas Beltran, Regina Gador Damalerio, Maria Eda Apple Artesano Suplido and Devendra Saroj ()
Additional contact information
Carla Mae Jabar Pausta: Centre for Environmental Health and Engineering (CEHE), School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Michael Angelo Baliwag Promentilla: Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila 1004, Philippines
Alberto Leyes Longos: Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila 1004, Philippines
Aileen Huelgas Orbecido: Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila 1004, Philippines
Arnel Bas Beltran: Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila 1004, Philippines
Regina Gador Damalerio: Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila 1004, Philippines
Maria Eda Apple Artesano Suplido: Agrivet Sciences Institute, De La Salle Araneta University, Salikneta Farm, Brgy. Upper Ciudad Real, San Jose Del Monte City 1475, Philippines
Devendra Saroj: Centre for Environmental Health and Engineering (CEHE), School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 13, 1-20

Abstract: Nutrient recovery technologies have been constantly developed and optimised to address challenges in water and wastewater management, sanitation, and agri-food systems, while promoting sustainable management of resources and circular phosphorous economy. However, these technologies have been rarely explored beyond the laboratory-scale in developing countries where it is mostly needed. In this study, a nutrient recovery batch reactor system was installed at a local farm in the Philippines to process raw septage from an onsite sanitation system, a septic tank, to recover a high-value fertiliser for local crop production. The batch reactor was used for two processes, namely acid hydrolysis for pre-treatment of septage and chemical precipitation for recovered phosphorous fertiliser (RPF). The recovered fertiliser was then applied to produce eggplants and tomatoes, which are the common crops grown in the farm. Results show that an average of 290 g of RPF was produced for every 100 L of raw septage processed. With hydrolysis, 77% of the phosphate concentration were released as phosphates from the solid component of the raw septage. About 98.5% of phosphates were recovered from the hydrolysed septage. The RPF when applied to the farm’s eggplants and tomatoes has yields comparable to that of the commercial fertilisers. This study was able to demonstrate the potential of a resource-oriented sanitation system that promotes nutrient recycling towards sustainable agriculture that further leads to meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals, particularly zero hunger (goal 2), clean water and sanitation (goal 6), sustainable cities and communities (goal 11), and responsible consumption and production (goal 12).

Keywords: circular economy; nutrients; onsite sanitation system; recovered phosphorous fertiliser (RPF); resource-oriented sanitation system; septage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9904/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9904/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:9904-:d:1176267

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().