Current Happenings ENVS News

Water pollution continues to be one of the serious concerns facing the country. The ensuing scenario of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms has exacerbated the menace. This demands wholescale water management techniques to segregate the pollutants, retrieve useful nutrients, and treat the water effectively for sustainable use. Dr Karthik Rajendran and his PhD scholar, Mr Sarath Chandra, from the Department of Environment Science have published a paper discussing various nutrient recovery methods and their consequential outcomes. The research was done in collaboration with Dr Deepak Kumar from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY and Dr Richen Lin from Southeast University, Nanjing, China.

The article titled, “Nutrient recovery from wastewater in India: A perspective from mass and energy balance for a sustainable circular economy” was published in Bioresource Technology Reports (Q1 Journal), having an Impact Factor of 4.41. Their research investigates the possibilities of recovering Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P) from wastewater in terms of technology, energy, and economic point of view. Excessive presence of Nitrogen and Phosphorous can result in eutrophication and algal blooming. These nutrients also pose a harmful threat to infrastructure. Nutrient recovery can mitigate these challenges and improve the quality of water.

Phosphorus is one of the limited resources available on earth and a key ingredient in fertilizer production. The recovery process also helps in transforming wastewater into resource pools that can efficiently churn out valuables that hold the key to a sustainable future. This will help reduce the imports of fertilizers and bring down the emissions to half in producing fertilizers. Their findings will also pave the way for making necessary policies to reduce water pollution and recover nutrients. As two-thirds of wastewater remains uncollected, they claim that effective treatment and water management practices can save around 800 crores per annum. Their future research plan also includes the experimental analysis of the nutrient recovery system.

Abstract of the Research

Wastewater (WW) is a potential source to recover N, and P, whereas, in India, it is scarcely explored. In this work, four different nutrient recovery methods were compared from a mass- and energy-balance perspective to understand the overall process flow. From 1000-m3 WW, chemical precipitation yielded 33.8 kg struvite, while micro-algae resulted in 299.1 kg (dry powder). Energy consumption was lowest for the fuel cells at 216.2 kWh/1000 m3, while microalgae used the highest energy at 943.3 kWh/1000 m3. Nonetheless, the cost-saving analysis showed that microalgae (78.6$/1000 m3) as a nutrient recovery choice, had higher savings than any other methods compared. For a country like India, where two-thirds of urban wastewater is untreated, wastewater-biorefinery options such as nutrient recovery hold the key to a sustainable circular economy.

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“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it” – Robert Swan

We live in a world where turning a blind eye to the air surrounding us is never an option. We are constantly reminded of our actions and their subsequent consequences on the planet. Yet many of us are in denial of the widening damages caused by us, and humanity is using the world’s resources faster than they can naturally recover. World Environment Day is here to kick you out of your comfort zone and push you to pause and reflect on what you have done so far.

On the eve of World Environment Day, the Department of Environmental Science is organising a webinar to discuss topics that need immediate response actions. Dr T V Sajeev, Senior Principal Scientist, Department of Forest Entomology, Kerala Forest Research Institute, will be delivering a talk on ‘Why did she stop going to school? The case of student roles in saving the planet’.

Date: June 04, 2022

Time: 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm IST

About the speaker

Dr T V Sajeev has twenty years of service as a scientist in KFRI and twenty-eight years of research experience. He has a PhD in Environmental Sciences from CUSAT. His focused areas of research are landscape fragmentation, population dynamics of insects, political ecology, biological control, and management of alien species. Currently, he coordinates a Tree Health Helpline Desk in KFRI to benefit forest tree farmers in Kerala. He has also secured a patent for the development of a biopesticide.

World Environment Day 2022 urges you to celebrate planet Earth through collective transformative actions. Let’s undo the damages we caused! Come listen to what our #OnlyOneEarth has to say.

Register here!