How Anaerobic Digestion Will Revolutionize Sewage Treatment
Ever since the earliest humans abandoned their hunter-gatherer lifestyle in favor of developed towns and cities, they have been grappling with the problem of human waste. It's smelly, unpleasant and potentially disease-ridden, and there's always more of it. Once, when population centers were smaller, waste could be managed with basic sewer systems. Now, however, cities are exploring new ways to use their millions of tons of sewage. They've discovered that a simple bacterial process can convert all of that nuisance waste into clean, safe renewable energy. Anaerobic digestion may provide up to 20 percent of cities' fuel consumption in only a few decades.
A history of pollution despite ever more complex treatment facilities, sewage pollution remains a problem in America and especially in developing countries. Over 90 percent of the world's sewage is dumped directly into bodies of water such as lakes and oceans. In developed nations, waste is usually treated, though rarely at peak efficiency, and then converted into clean water. Humans are not the only ones creating sewage problems, of course. Farms must find solutions for tons of animal feces. Raw waste must be transported and composted before it can be used as a fertilizer, and there is still a heated debate over whether or not human waste is safe to use on food crops.
Utilizing bacteria sewage is becoming a larger and larger problem as the population grows.Many cities are now implementing bacterial decomposition systems to convert the waste into fertilizers and usable natural gas. Methane, the main chemical found in natural gas, is a hydrocarbon more commonly associated with ruminants such as cows than the human digestive tract. Anaerobic digestion does, in fact, work much like a cow's stomach, with bacteria breaking down the waste into gases and energy. The natural gas created can then be safely piped into homes and businesses as a renewable source of energy.
The future of sewage management processing waste into natural gas is, at this point, mostly limited by cost and public perception. Natural gas is still abundant in the United States, and building the necessary equipment for anaerobic digestion can cost millions of dollars and take as much as 30 years to pay for itself. Taxpayers are also hesitant to invest in something related to such a squeamish subject. Some have complained of religious prohibitions against the handling or association with waste, while others are worried about possible health impacts.
The long-term benefits of sewage recycling, however, cannot be ignored. As cities begin to focus more on renewable energy sources, natural gas production provides a useful solution for one of civilization's oldest logistical difficulties. This method began as a way to use up unwanted livestock manure, but it is actually far more practical when combined with existing sewer systems. In the coming decades, human waste may no longer be considered a toxic pollutant and instead become one of the most reliable sources of sustainable heat and electricity available.
About the Author
To learn more about anaerobic digestion and the abilities to convert biosolids into agricultural grade fertilizer through the optimization of wastewater treatment plants, visit http://www.lystek.com
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