1st International Terra Preta Sanitation Conference Aug 2013

Location:Hamburg University of Technology. The campus is located in Hamburg-Harburg.

Dates: Wednesday, 28  -  Saturday  31 August 2013

Background

…An analysis of a former civilisation in the Amazon, nowadays Brazil, reveals concepts which enable a highly efficient handling of organic wastes. Terra Preta do Indio is the anthropogenic black soil that was produced by ancient cultures through the conversion of biowaste and faecal matter into long-term fertile soils. These soils have maintained high amounts of organic carbon even several thousand years after they were abandoned. It was recently discovered that around 10% of the originally infertile soils in the Amazon region was converted this way from around 7,000 until 500 years ago. Due to the accumulation of charred biomass and other organic residues, terra preta subsequently formed giving it a deep, distinctly dark and highly fertile soil layer.One of the surprising facts is that this soil is highly productive without adding fertiliser.

Recent research concludes that this culture had a superior sanitation and bio-waste system that was based on source separation of faecal matter, urine and clever additives particularly charcoal dust and treatment steps for the solids resulting in high yielding gardening. Additives included ground charcoal dust while the treatment and smell prevention started with anaerobic lactic-acid fermentation followed by vermicomposting.The generation of new Terra Preta (‘terra preta nova’) based on the safe treatment of human waste could be the basis for sustainable agriculture in the twenty-first century to produce food for billions of people….

Speakers / Sessions

Thursday
Conference Keynote Dr. Haiko Pieplow (tbc)
Session 1: TP soils, soil fertility, organic farming
Key note from Bruno Glaser or Albrecht von Sydow (Germany) (tbc)

• T. Theuretzbacher (Austria): Investigation on Terra Preta like products on the german-Austrian market
• N. Andreev (Moldava): The effect of terra preta like substrate on germination and shoot growth of radish and parsley
• H. Factura (Philippines): Addressing Poor Sanitation and Generating Added Values through Terra Preta Sanitation
• B. Pelivanoski (Germany): Terra Pellet – an organic fertilizer inspired by terra preta

Session 2: TPS Applications, Quality of products, hygienic parameter, legislation, certification
Keynote presentation Prof. Srikanth Mutnuri (India) (tbc): Terra Preta as an Alternative for the Management of Sludge from Waste Water Treatment Plant

• S. Böttger (Germany): Terra Preta – production from sewage sludges of decentralised wastewater systems
• M. Stöckl (Germany): Vermicomposting of fecal matter and organic waste – a quality assessment of products
• D. Meier Kohlstock (Germany): The integration of Terra Preta Sanitation in European nutrient cycles – Options for alternative policies and economies

Session 3: Terra Preta Sanitation: toilet systems and designs / Logistic and operation / practical examples
Keynote speech Prof. Charlotte de Fraiture (Netherlands) (tbc)

• R. Wagner (Germany): New challenges of resource management in the Botanic Garden Berlin by producing and applying biochar substrates
• R. Kuipers (Netherlands): A socio-economic assessment of urine separation, with a reflection on the possibilities for Terra Preta Sanitation, for the recycling of nutrients to rural agriculture in the Philippines
• M. Bulbo (Ethiopia): TP application in Ethiopia
• R. Wolf (Germany): Application of Fermented Urine for build up of Terra Preta Humus in a Permaculture Park and Social Impact on the Community Involved

Friday
Session 4: Carbon composting of biowaste and excreta/Climate farming / wood gas technology for energy and char coal production / Pyrolysis vs. hydrothermal carbonization
Keynote presentation Prof. Zifu Li (China) (tbc): Energy balance analysis on the pyrolysis process of animal manure
T. Voss (Germany): Wood gasification in parallel flow fixbed gasifieres for combined energy and charcoal production – experiences from six years of operation (abstact follows)

• C. vom Eyser (Germany): Product quality of ç from sewage sludge in terms of micropollutants
• E. Someus (Sweden): Reducing mineral fertilisers and chemicals use in agriculture by recycling treated organic waste as compost and bio-char products
• J. Fingas (Germany): Climate farming – Practical experience from sub-Saharan Afrika

Session 5: Microbiology, sanitization and lactic acid fermentation
Keynote presentation Dr. Gina Itchon (Philippines): The Effectivity of the Terra Preta Sanitation (TPS) Process in the Elimination of Parasite Eggs in Fecal Matter: A Field Trial of TPS in Mindanao, Philippines

• A. Yemaneh (Germany/Ethiopia): Investigation of Low-Cost Sugar Supplement for Lactic Acid Fermentation of Human Excreta in Terra Preta Sanitation System
• A. Febriana (Indonesia): Faeces Treatment By Lactofermentation Process Based On Terra Preta Sanitation System Concept
• A. Walter (Austria): Microbial communities in charcoal and microbe amended composts
• F. Scheinemann (Germany): Sanitation and conservation of nutrients in cattle manure and sewage sludge by anerobic fermentation

Click here to go to the conference website

Organisation Committee

Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection at TUHH
GFEU e. V.
WECF

Co-Organisers

Institute of Environmental Technology and Energy Economics at TUHH
German WASH Network
UNESCO IHE
BDZ

all details are from their site

Rose George: Take toilets seriously talk at TED@London

A great video to watch while waiting to see the  recording of  Rose George when she spoke at Ted 2013

 

Profile from TED 2013:

Rose George thinks, researches, writes and talks about sanitation. Diarrhea is a weapon of mass destruction, says the UK-based journalist and author, and a lack of access to toilets is at the root of our biggest public health crisis. In 2012, two out of five of the world’s population had nowhere sanitary to go.

The key to turning around this problem is to “stop putting the toilet behind a locked door,” says George.  Let’s drop the pretense of “water-related diseases” and call out the cause of myriad afflictions around the world — “poop-related diseases” that are preventable with a basic toilet. Once we do, we can start using human waste for good.

George explores the problem in her book The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters and in a fabulous special issue of Colors magazine called “Shit: A Survival Guide.”

Related Links for Rose George

• Go home and talk s***: Rose George at TED2013
• Contact info , book info and a whole lot more on her web site….
• Animated homage to her Book: The Indoorfins present: The Big Necessity   :-)

Other powerful TED , TEDX,  TED-Ed links

• TEDxYYC – “David Damberger – Learning from Failure” -Wonderful Reflection on his WATSAN Experience
• TEDx HOW NEXTDROP IS USING CELL PHONES, CROWDSOURCING TO GET WATER TO THE THIRSTY.
• TEDxBerlin Noa Lerner:X-runner. Sanitation Social Business
• TEDxAmsterdamWomen Anjali Sarker – Toilet+ overcoming my childhood fear TEDX event
• Revolutionizing Sanitation in Developing Nations: Yu-Ling Cheng at TEDxYouth@Toronto
• Where we get our fresh water – Christiana Z. Peppard TED-Ed
• Turning recycled wastewater into a commoditized resource : Valérie Issumo at TEDxLausanne
• The Wello Water Wheel Story : Cynthia Koenig at TEDxGateway

Stanford Nitrogen Group – Energy from Waste Nitrogen – Wastewater Treatment research

 When looking at sanitation/wastewater treatment and making it economically feasible for more parts of the world, this is very interesting research.   Some will say it has roots in the fact that there is “gold”  in out crap…

Related links to this research:

Wastewater as a Clean Energy Source:

  …On May 1, a panel of judges awarded the $100,000 National University Clean Energy Business Challenge prize to the Stanford team for its project to convert nitrogen waste into nitrous oxide that is then used for clean power generation….

Paper: Nitrogen removal with energy recovery through N₂O decomposition:

by Yaniv D. Scherson ,  George F. Wells ,  Sung-Geun Woo ,  Jangho Lee ,  Joonhong Park ,  Brian J. Cantwell and Craig S. Criddle

A new process for the removal of nitrogen from wastewater is introduced. The process involves three steps: (1) partial nitrification of NH₄⁺ to NO₂⁻; (2) partial anoxic reduction of NO₂⁻ to N₂O; and (3) N₂O conversion to N₂ with energy recovery by either catalytic decomposition to N₂ and O₂ or use of N₂O to oxidize biogas CH₄. Steps 1 and 3 have been previously established at full-scale. Accordingly, bench-scale experiments focused on step 2. Two strategies were evaluated and found to be effective: in the first, Fe(II) was used to abiotically reduce NO₂⁻ to N₂O; in the second, COD stored as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) was used as the electron donor for partial heterotrophic reduction of NO₂⁻ to N₂O. ….

Researchers use rocket science for sustainable waste treatment process

Normally, we want to discourage these gases from forming,” said Craig Criddle, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford. “But by encouraging the formation of nitrous oxide, we can remove harmful nitrogen from the water and simultaneously increase methane production for use as fuel.

• Yaniv D. Scherson’s profile
• The Criddle Research Group / Professor Craig S. Criddle
• Brian J. Cantwell’s profile
• George F. Wells’ profile
• The Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Related articles

• Total N2O emissions-which are believed to come primarily from nitrogen fertilizers used in agricultural production-would account for about 8 percent of California’s total greenhouse gas emissions. (familysurvivalprotocol.com)
• 1st International IWA Conference on Holistic Sludge Management (washlink.wordpress.com)
• Major Advance in Generating Electricity From Wastewater (wakingtimes.com)
• Major Advance in Generating Electricity From Wastewater (myscienceacademy.org)
• The Final Frontier of Water and Wastewater Treatment: Sludge Management Equipment Market Set to Reach $9.9 Billion by 2017 (prweb.com)