Constructive usage of bio waste/wastewater as fertilizer for horticulture after minimal treatment

Wastewater is generated in every community and if not properly disposed-off and treated can lead to
various environmental problems including groundwater contamination and various health hazards to
the community.

Wastewater treatment is a big challenge due to many reasons. Normally the wastewater treatment
plants are constructed outside cities to not cause any environmental problems to the localities therefore
the problem of collecting the waste from the domestic areas and safely transporting it to the treatment
plant several kilometers away entails pumping costs and reliability of the collection system. Normally
the collection system consisting of sewer pipes dates back many years earlier than the treatment plant
itself becoming vulnerable to leakage and loss of integrity. Therefore, no matter how good is the
treatment facility, the damage to the environment keeps on going via the leakage/leakages in the
transport system. The unnecessary length of the collection system also may increase the load of the
wastewater treatment plant by leakages that may infiltrate the external storm water which is not
otherwise dangerous to the environment but once entering the sewer pipes causes dilution and increase
in the effective volume to be transported and ultimately treated. Second problem is that making the
whole city waste fit for disposal to the environment is a bigger challenge because many new
contaminants are being added due the industrial development and new types of softeners/detergents
and new diseases transmitted through wastewater therefore you can never be sure that you have
treated everything and the water is fit for disposal to the receiving body. Third problem is the capital
cost and running cost of the facility. The wastewater treatment plant is not a profit generating facility
although it protects the environment and community health under regulations but still it is not
generating a direct revenue which becomes incentive for investment thus making its installation difficult
specially in the underdeveloped countries.

The below work suggests a cost-effective solution to be installed at the small community level for each
small areas of the city/locality and install small treatment units for each locality and use the wastewater
for localized horticulture applications after minimal treatment. This would enable safe disposal and
utilization of wastewater, generation of green areas, trees in every locality and ultimate benefit to all
the stakeholders. The article analyzes the common constituents of the wastewater and suggests which
of them should be removed as a minimum making the wastewater fit for horticulture applications.