Waste Water Management

The discharge of domestic sewage creates considerable nutrient fluxes into the receiving waters, in particular phosphorus and nitrogen, which have adverse effects on water ecology and represent in fact a loss of valuable nutrients which is replaced by artificial fertilizers. The separation of nutrients at the source and the diversion of the nutrient fluxes onto recycled pathways offer new possibilities for waste water disposal. Separation of urine in so called no-mix toilets as well as transformation and treatment of urine in order to produce a fertilizer product for agriculture are subject to a series of research projects. The various current interdisciplinary projects are guided and coordinated by SWW in the Eawag cross-cutting project Novaquatis.