Abstract
The limited information about the sludge quality has made its management a top environmental challenge. In the present study, occurrence and the spatiotemporal variations of 52 inorganic elements were investigated in the sludge samples from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Xiamen city, China. The results showed, the occurrence of 49 elements with the concentrations in the range of >125–53500 mg kg−1 dry sludge (DS) for commonly used industrial metals, 1.22–14.0 mg kg−1 DS for precious metals, and 1.12–439.0 mg kg−1 DS for rare earth elements. The geo-accumulation studies indicated a moderate to high levels of buildup of some elements in the sewage sludge. Principal components analysis (PCA) indicated strong spatial and weak temporal variations in the concentrations of the elements. Therefore, the sludge disposal operations, based on the element concentrations, geoaccumulation and economic potential are suggested for each WWTP. Sludge from W1 and W2 were found suitable for agricultural usage, while that from W3 showed a higher economic potential for the recovery of precious metals. This study concludes that a comprehensive analysis of the elements in the sewage sludge could provide critical information for the disposal and management of the sludge.
Highlights
China is a populous country with a population of over 1.3 billion
The pH values of the sludge samples were all close to the neutrality and did not show any significant variations during the four sampling seasons (p > 0.05)
The occurrence of 52 elements was investigated in the sludge samples from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Xiamen city, China over one year
Summary
China is a populous country with a population of over 1.3 billion. With the rapid industrialization, urbanization, and economic growth, China is facing growing environmental issues[1,2,3,4], including the production and disposal of huge amounts of sewage sludge. The present work aimed to (1) investigate the occurrence of 52 elements, including industrial metals, precious metals, rare earth elements and phosphorous in sewage sludge, (2) understand the temporal and spatial variations, (3) appreciate the quality of sludge and evaluate the geoaccumulation index, and (4) to indicate the proper sludge disposal methods. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation on such a broad range of inorganic elements in the sewage sludge in China
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