An investigation into the effects of urine separation technology  on wastewater treatment plants and on society as a whole

​

​

​



1.  Remove organics from the WW to prevent deoxygenation in receiving water bodies
2.  Remove Nitrogen and Phosphorous from the WW to prevent eutrophication
3.  Remove Ammonia from the WW because Ammonia can toxify receiving water bodies
4.  Remove Pathogens from the WW to prevent the spread of disease downstream



Most of the processes at WWTPs are dedicated to removing Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P). Nitrogen, for example, is somewhat removed in the growth process of bacteria at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, excess Nitrogen has to be removed via the biological processes 'Nitrification' and 'Denitrification'. Similarly, some Phosphorous is removed in the growth process of bacteria, but excess Phosphorous has to be removed via Excess Biological Phosphorous Removal (EBPR) processes. 



Urine contains 80% of the total N and 50% of the total P in wastewater (WW) but makes up only 1% of the total volume (Wilsenach, 2006). So if urine could be separated at the source, WWTPs could possibly be simpler, smaller, cheaper and produce better effluent. The concentrated urine could then be separately collected and treated much more effectively in a concentrated form (Ekama, 2011). This thesis investigated the potential impacts of urine separation by focussing on the effects on WWTPs.