The sludge recovery generated in wastewater treatment plants is drawn as a Powerful economic opportunity and as a crucial piece to expand the range of actions that seek the sustainability. Although it might seem, this practice not only impacts the field of water resources, but can also benefit other sectors such as agriculture.
Sludge treatment represents an important Muleta for circular economysince taking advantage of its components, it is possible to generate high quality organic fertilizers. In the clearance sludge, large amounts of nutrients and organic matter are present that, with due treatment, serve to significantly improve the soil fertility and provide them with a better structure. Thus, and eliminating unwanted components, they can be converted into products similar to Natural manure of cattle. The benefit is double: on the one hand, the waste generated by the population nuclei are valued without altering the ecological balance and, on the other, it is possible to reduce the production costs cutting the use of other fertilizers.
The Sacyr Agua subsidiary in Chile has set out to convert this challenge into a solution and has launched an innovative project that proposes to study the formulas to revalue the sludge generated in treatment plants of wastewater that manages, thus promoting environmental sustainability and promoting the development of the circular economy, since currently, all sludge that are generated in the company’s wastewater treatment plants in Chile are transported to a sanitary landfill, A type of landfill that houses urban solid waste.
“Sacyr Agua in Chile seeks revalue 100% of sludge developing a nutritional and biologically enriched product by incorporating phosphate solubilizer microorganisms, struvita and other mineral sources that serve as fertilizer for agriculture, “explains the technical manager of the subsidiary, Ricardo Herrera. MODERDE PROJECTwhich Herrera is also director, intends to treat even 8,000 tons per year of enriched sludge and incorporate them into the market in late 2026 in collaboration with a local fertilizer supplier, thus increasing crop productivity by 20% and promoting the culture of waste management under environmental sustainability and circularity criteria.
In real conditions
The initiative promoted by Sacyr Agua in Chile is currently in an experimental phase. The tests are being carried out in the laboratories of the Curauma Biotechnology nucleus, a Spin-off of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. There, the sludge extracted from wastewater treatment plants pass through an anaerobic digester and a fluidized bed reactor that allows struvite production. The process includes water pretreatment and a secondary process of prolonged aeration that eliminates nitrogen and phosphorus present in the residue to be able to Comply with the legal parameters that allow sludge discharge.
The biological reactor is a Bardenpho that has had to be modified to host an endogenous post-nitrification zone with the aim of improving nutrient elimination. The procedures carried out in the laboratories simulate real conditions to be able to analyze the product response, which will finally be Used in different plantations in the country.
More presence in desalination
The presence of Sacyr in Chile dates back 28 years, when in 1996 the first contract was awarded to build and exploit the Los Vilos-La Serena highway and since 2020 it manages in the Andean country Four Integral Cycle Management Companies of water in the metropolitan region and one of water treatment in the Antofagasta region attending to an approximate population of 150,000 inhabitants.
The company has also carried out important projects in the field of desalination both marine and aquifers and has placed this business among its strategic expansion objectives, since the Chilean government is making a firm commitment to this technology to deal with Water crisis that crosses. Gabriel Boric executive works on a bill to regulate the desalination market and provides tender More than 30 projects In the coming years.
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