Aerobic in-vessel co-composting of dewatered sewage sludge with mixed municipal wastes under subhumid and semiarid atmospheric conditions

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Recent trends in fecal sludge management evoke the need for improving facilities for co-composting with municipal wastes having spatiotemporally varying compositions under changing atmospheric conditions. The present study is an attempt to recognize the need for locating an aerobic in-vessel co-compost unit in the vicinity of an overloaded sewage treatment plant aiming at synergistic waste management through minimizing water and land resources requirement. Dewatered sewage sludge was incorporated at selected proportions to differently degradable wastes under semiarid and subhumid conditions. The results indicate that the prevailing atmospheric conditions elongated the spray cover from surface aerators in the downwind direction, enabling the compost to receive augmented moisture supply with susceptible aerobic organisms towards achieving faster stability within 35 days. The results also suggest that temporal redistribution of nitrogenous compounds, as well as reduced emission of volatile organics, generally followed the proportion of partially digested sludge in the mixture. The study emphasizes the suitability of combined sludge dewatering and composting system for promoting sustainable and integrated waste management without adverse environmental impacts.