IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p2668-d1054933.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of Turning Frequency on the Survival of Fecal Indicator Microorganisms during Aerobic Composting of Fecal Sludge with Sawdust

Author

Listed:
  • Musa Manga

    (The Water Institute at UNC, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA
    BioResource Systems Research Group, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
    Department of Construction Economics and Management, College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University, Kampala P.O. Box 7062, Uganda)

  • Chimdi Muoghalu

    (The Water Institute at UNC, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 166 Rosenau Hall, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA)

  • Miller A. Camargo-Valero

    (BioResource Systems Research Group, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
    Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Campus La Nubia, Manizales 170003, Colombia)

  • Barbara E. Evans

    (BioResource Systems Research Group, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of turning frequency on survival of fecal indicator pathogens ( E. coli , Enterococcus spp., Salmonella spp. and helminth eggs) during fecal sludge (FS) co-composting with sawdust. Dewatered FS was mixed with sawdust and composted on a pilot scale using different turning frequencies—i.e., 3 days (3TF), 7 days (7TF), and 14 days (14TF). Composting piles were monitored weekly for survival of fecal indicator microorganisms and evolution of selected physical and chemical characteristics for 14 weeks. Our results show that turning frequency has a statistically significant ( p < 0.05) effect on pathogen inactivation in FS compost. The 3TF piles exhibited shorter pathogen inactivation periods (8 weeks) than 7TF and 14TF piles (10 weeks). Temperature-time was found to be the major factor responsible for the survival of pathogens in FS composting piles, followed by indigenous microbial activities and toxic by-products (monitored as NH 4 + -N). Our study findings suggest that even at low composting temperatures, the high turning frequency can enhance pathogen inactivation. This is a significant finding for composting activities in some rural areas where suitable organic solid waste for co-composting with FS to attain the recommended high thermophilic conditions could be greatly lacking.

Suggested Citation

  • Musa Manga & Chimdi Muoghalu & Miller A. Camargo-Valero & Barbara E. Evans, 2023. "Effect of Turning Frequency on the Survival of Fecal Indicator Microorganisms during Aerobic Composting of Fecal Sludge with Sawdust," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2668-:d:1054933
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2668/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2668/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Musa Manga & Barbara E. Evans & Tula M. Ngasala & Miller A. Camargo-Valero, 2022. "Recycling of Faecal Sludge: Nitrogen, Carbon and Organic Matter Transformation during Co-Composting of Faecal Sludge with Different Bulking Agents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-22, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Musa Manga & Christian Aragón-Briceño & Panagiotis Boutikos & Swaib Semiyaga & Omotunde Olabinjo & Chimdi C. Muoghalu, 2023. "Biochar and Its Potential Application for the Improvement of the Anaerobic Digestion Process: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-23, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Musa Manga & Christian Aragón-Briceño & Panagiotis Boutikos & Swaib Semiyaga & Omotunde Olabinjo & Chimdi C. Muoghalu, 2023. "Biochar and Its Potential Application for the Improvement of the Anaerobic Digestion Process: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-23, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2668-:d:1054933. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.