School of Water, Energy and Environment (SWEE)

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Browsing School of Water, Energy and Environment (SWEE) by Course name "MSc by Research"

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    ItemOpen Access
    Source to sink wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) for COVID-19 monitoring.
    (Cranfield University, 2022-03) Folkes, Miles George Terence; Hassard, Francis; Soares, Ana
    Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) complements individual testing to assess disease burden within geographically defined communities. Here, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA fragments of N1 and E genes were monitored intermittently over ~16-month period (19th March 2020 – 21st July 2021) from large buildings on a university campus (near-source), in-sewer, raw wastewater and treated effluents to monitor infection burden within a small University in England, United Kingdom. SARS-CoV-2 abundance positively correlated with ammonia at near-source (Spearman’s Rank; ρ(14) = 0.82, p < 0.01) and at the in-sewer (Spearman’s Rank; ρ(26) = 0.54, p < 0.01) spatial scales but not within the onsite wastewater treatment works (WWTW) inlet or treatment process interstage samples. Campus infections and detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater occurred consistently through the survey and increasing trends lagged local area infection data and community cases of emerging / dominant variants of concern. Sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes from wastewater suggested detection of Alpha (B.1.1.7) Variant of Concern from wastewater samples. The University secondary WWTW (roughing and nitrifying trickling filters) did not removal substantial quantities of SARS-CoV- 2 and the virus was regularly detected in permitted discharges, despite complete compliance to conventional wastewater consents during the survey. Although the virus was detected, there is very strong confidence in it not being active and thus it is not infectious. Remote and rural WWTW may not be effective at breaking down the RNA of enveloped viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 prior to discharge. In conclusion SARS-CoV-2 WBS can be used to proactively manage the health of campus-based communities as a complimentary measure of health status. Testing WBS at near-source, in-sewer and interstage WWTW provides the first single source to sink surveillance program to support broader roll out of WBS as a surveillance method.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Treating container toilet waste in Kumasi, Ghana.
    (2018-01) Sarpong, Daniel; Parker, Alison; Tyrrel, Sean
    About 2.7 billion people worldwide have access to onsite sanitation technologies, and that number is expected to increase to 5 billion by 2030. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 65-100% of sanitation access in urban areas is provided through the onsite technologies. It is evident that faecal sludge management is of a critical need that must be addressed. Clean Team, a subsidiary company of Water and Sanitation for Urban poor (WSUP), operates in Kumasi, Ghana by providing household portable container toilets at subsidised fees. This research investigated toilet waste treatment options for Clean Team, in the event that it expands into towns where there is no treatment plant at all. The study presented the results of the performance of the two technologies, Sistema Biobolsa and BIOROCK, installed and operated under the ambient conditions in Kumasi. With hydraulic retention time of 10 days, the Sistema Biobolsa achieved removal efficiency of 79%, 93%, 90%, 61% and 64% for the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Ammonium Nitrogen (NH₄-N), Total Solids, Total Suspended Solid (TSS) and Alkalinity respectively. With regards to BIOROCK system, at hydraulic retention time of 25 days, the system achieved removal efficiency of 73%, 87%, 86% and 51% for the COD, NH₄-N, TS and TSS respectively. The study recorded 46 % biogas (methane) production by volume from the Sistema Biobolsa digesters, in spite of Clean Team’s chemical additive (odour suppressant). Furthermore, the study also shown 100% seed germination in the outflow wastewater from the Sistema Biobolsa gravel filter beds, whilst BIOROCK shown a seed germination at 10% dilution of outflow wastewater from the secondary tank (filtration process). Taken together these results , there are strong indication of the occurrence of biological processes in spite of the presence of the chemical additive and provide confidence that waste of this type can be treated by flowsheet which included biological processes. The effluent quality from the both technologies met some of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (GEPA) guidelines but not others. The study suggested that any stand-alone deployment of these systems (thus, where there is no existing wastewater treatment works), would require a parallel sludge management system such as drying beds.