Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

Local recycling of plant nutrients from small-scale

wastewater systems to farmland—A Swedish
scenario study
P. Tidåker a,∗ , C. Sjöberg b , H. Jönsson a
a Department of Biometry and Engineering, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,
SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
b UVAT, SE-810 40 Hedesunda, Sweden

Received 9 December 2005; received in revised form 9 May 2006; accepted 24 May 2006
Available online 11 July 2006

Abstract

Reducing the negative impact from on-site systems and promoting recycling are important tasks
for municipal authorities, especially as regards phosphorus. The objective of this scenario study was
to compare energy turnover in a life cycle perspective, recycling potential and expected reduction
of nitrogen and phosphorus emissions for three upgraded small-scale wastewater systems based on
local recycling of plant nutrients. The systems studied were urine separation, blackwater separation
and chemical precipitation in the septic tank. The urine was sanitised through storage, the blackwater
through liquid composting and the precipitated sludge through chemical treatment with urea before
reuse in agriculture. The system boundaries included the operational phase as well as investment in
capital goods required for upgrading the existing on-site systems.
The urine separation system used least energy. The potential recycling and reduction of phosphorus
was lower than for the other two systems, while that of nitrogen was higher than for the chemical
precipitation system but lower than for the blackwater separation system. The blackwater separation
system reduced both nitrogen and phosphorus to a high extent and also enabled a large proportion
of both nitrogen and phosphorus to be recycled to arable land. However, a major drawback with this
system was its significantly higher use of electricity, related to the aeration and stirring required when
sanitising the blackwater by liquid composting. When urea treatment replaced liquid composting,
the use of electricity decreased substantially in the blackwater separation system. The chemical pre-
cipitation system was efficient in reducing and recycling phosphorus, while inefficient for nitrogen.

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 18 671831; fax: +46 18 67 35 29.

E-mail address: Pernilla.Tidaker@bt.slu.se (P. Tidåker).

0921-3449/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2006.05.004
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 389

The use of fossil fuels was significantly higher than for the other two systems, primarily due to the
production of the precipitation chemical.
© 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Blackwater; Environmental systems analysis; Human urine; On-site systems; Sewage sludge; Wastew-
ater treatment

1. Introduction

Reducing the eutrophying emissions to water is one of the priority environmental objec-
tives in Sweden. Continuing improvements over several decades in order to meet legislative
requirements regarding effluents have resulted in a decreasing nutrient load from municipal
wastewater treatment plants to water recipients. Further concern as regards eutrophication
is caused by the almost one million houses with on-site treatment, half of which are con-
sidered to work below the legal requirements (Swedish EPA, 2002). These systems include
both houses for permanent living and vacation. Estimations of the anthropogenic phos-
phorus load to water in Sweden indicate that approximately 20% originates from on-site
wastewater systems (Brandt and Ejhed, 2002), a higher figure than reported from large-scale
wastewater treatment plants despite the fact that these plants serve the vast majority (85%)
of the Swedish population (Statistics Sweden, 2004). Therefore, the Swedish EPA (2002)
has identified improvement of on-site systems as an important task for municipal authori-
ties, also proposing that 10% of these systems should be able to recover plant nutrients by
the year 2015. In particular, recovery of phosphorus has been emphasised since phosphate
ores with a low content of heavy metals are a limited resource. A national goal for 60% of
the phosphorus in sewage to be recycled by 2015 has therefore been decided upon (Prop,
2005). Recycling of plant nutrients from wastewater to arable land is also promoted by
the guidelines for on-site systems currently being developed by the Swedish EPA. These
guidelines state that the reduction in phosphorus should normally exceed 70%.
The principal components of most Swedish on-site systems include a septic tank where
solids are settled and form a sludge layer at the bottom of the tank. According to Swedish
legislation, the effluent from a septic tank should be further treated, e.g. in a soil absorption
system or a sand filter bed with the effluent collected in a drainage pipe. Currently, sludge
from septic tanks is often collected by truck and disposed of at the inlet of a large-scale
wastewater treatment plant. The septic tank sludge is thus treated with other wastewater
fractions and a sewage sludge of mixed origin is produced. As the Swedish food industry in
general is opposed to the use of sewage sludge on arable land, citing environmental risks and
consumer reactions (Berglund, 2001), the agricultural use of sewage sludge has declined
substantially and is currently fairly limited (Statistics Sweden, 2004). An alternative to
municipal treatment of the sludge from on-site systems is to contract farmers for collection,
treatment and spreading. However, the septic tank sludge from most on-site systems has a
limited value as fertiliser as only a low proportion of the plant nutrients originally found in
the wastewater remains in the septic tank (Swedish EPA, 1985). Furthermore, high levels of
heavy metals are found in the septic tank sludge (Van der Graaf et al., 1989). The concen-
tration of heavy metals per kg phosphorus therefore restricts its fertiliser value (Svensson,
390 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

1998). With an upgrading of existing on-site systems based on recycling principles, the
discharge of phosphorus and nitrogen to the recipient could be reduced while at the same
time the fertilising value of the sewage products is expected to increase. The food indus-
try also seems to be more positive towards the use of sewage products from small-scale
systems than sewage sludge from large-scale wastewater treatment (Berglund, 2001), thus
facilitating reuse in farming.
By using a life cycle approach, not only environmental aspects from the operation of
the actual treatment unit, but also the whole chain of activities involved in wastewater
management can be considered. If plant nutrients in sewage products replace mineral fer-
tilisers, resource depletion and environmental impacts related to fertiliser production could
be reduced. However, the infrastructure required for handling the wastewater fractions sep-
arately could have a substantial impact on the energy use (Tidåker et al., 2007; Tillman
et al., 1998). Recycling and conservation of energy are integral objectives in the Swedish
Environmental Code. The extent to which a higher degree of plant nutrient recycling affects
the use of energy in a life cycle perspective is thus important to highlight to avoid sub-
optimisation.
Several environmental systems analyses have assessed urban wastewater systems using a
life cycle perspective, while such assessments for rural settlements seem to be rare. Dixon et
al. (2003) compared a reedbed and a package bio-filtration plant using a life cycle approach.
The study included the construction and operation phases, but did not consider re-use of
the sludge. Comparing other alternatives for rural settlements in a life cycle perspective
can highlight possibilities and drawbacks with different systems, thus providing decision-
support at different levels.
In the east of Sweden, five municipalities near the city of Stockholm cooperate in a
water protection project for the watershed area of the river Oxundaån. In this area, 90%
of the on-site systems are estimated to work insufficiently and urgent action is therefore
needed. One proposal is to introduce systems based on local recycling of plant nutrients to
farmland. According to a survey performed within this project, the farmers were in general
positive towards entrepreneurship including collection, storage and spreading of sewage
products from on-site systems, provided that economic conditions were favourable and
the food industry accepted the practice (Tidåker et al., 2004). A high concentration of plant
nutrients was a key issue for the farmers, but high hygienic quality and low content of heavy
metals were also emphasised as important factors. Within the water protection project, a
minor part of the watershed area was chosen to model different scenarios for wastewater
treatment. The area studied is situated in the municipality of Vallentuna, to the north of
Stockholm city. The objective of the study was to examine the energy turnover, recycling
potential for nitrogen and phosphorus and estimated reduction of these nutrients to water for
three upgraded small-scale wastewater systems based on local recycling of plant nutrients
to farmland.

2. Methodology

The methodology used for the calculations of energy turnover was based upon a life
cycle perspective, taking into account all relevant processes from raw material acquisition
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 391

through production and use. Energy use was identified and summarised into total use of
fossil fuel and electricity. The energy flows considered both operation and construction
phases, as well as energy embodied in different materials and were expressed in MJ per
household and year. The estimated reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus as well as potential
recycling was based upon previous investigations and measurements on existing small-scale
systems.

3. System descriptions

Three alternatives considered feasible for upgrading small-scale wastewater systems in

Swedish rural areas were selected: urine separation, blackwater separation and chemical
precipitation. These systems rely on different technologies and require different sanitation
strategies, thus reflecting some of the diversity of existing alternatives for on-site systems.
They were previously evaluated in a development project by the Swedish Delegation for
Sustainable Technology and Stockholm Vatten (Hellström et al., 2003).
The calculations were based on 148 households living permanently in detached houses
in an unsewered rural area. For all households, it was assumed that on-site treatment was
carried out in an already existing septic tank and subsequent constructed sand filter bed.
All three alternatives involved supplements with additional components and processes to
meet future requirements regarding reduced discharge to water and increased plant nutrient
recycling. A farmer was assumed to collect, store and spread the three sewage products
intended for recycling, i.e. separated urine, blackwater mixed with organic food waste and
phosphorus-enriched septic tank sludge.
A brief description of the alternatives is given below, with some data summarised in
Table 1. Information on the collection system and the farm handling is also given in Sjöberg
(2003).

3.1. Urine separation

Urine separation is based on a toilet equipped with two bowls, a front bowl for urine
and a rear bowl for faecal matter. Each bowl is then connected to a separate outlet (Jönsson
et al., 1999). After separation, the urine is collected in a storage tank, while the faecal
matter is handled separately or treated with other fractions of household wastewater. In the

Table 1
Facilities required per household (hh), and farm storage tanks, collection routes and tractor use for the whole area
Urine Blackwater Chemical
separation separation precipitation
Plastic pipes (kg hh−1 ) 20 21.5
Household storage tank (m3 hh−1 )a 2.6 4
Storage tank at farm level (m3 )a 325 1430 615
Collection routes (km year−1 ) 300 1000 630
Tractor use (h year−1 ) 50 168 85
a Dimensions from the companies Tranås Cement and Abetong.
392 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

urine separation system modelled in this study, urine-separating toilets were assumed to be
installed in each household when old toilets were replaced. The urine mixture, consisting of
urine and flushwater, was conducted in plastic pipes to a storage tank of reinforced concrete
placed below ground. According to Palm et al. (2002), 65–85% of the urine produced
is normally collected in the urine tank. The range depends on user behaviour and the
construction of the toilet (Jönsson et al., 1999). Based on the assumption that 75% of the
urine was collected and that the urine mixture amounted to 1.9 m3 per household and year,
the concentration of nitrogen was calculated to be 2.5 kg m−3 . This value was in the range
reported from other studies, although the concentration may differ considerably between
different systems (Olsson, 1995). All other wastewater fractions including the misplaced
urine were assumed to be treated in the septic tank and a subsequent sand filter bed. The
urine was assumed to be transported to a farm once a year, stored and spread on agricultural
land. The storage capacity at farm level was one year and all urine was assumed to be stored
at least 6 months without additional filling, which is the recommended storage time before
use on fodder crops and food crops that are to be processed (Höglund, 2001). The user
phase of the pipes and storage tanks was set to 30 years.

3.2. Blackwater separation

In the blackwater separation system, the closet water, i.e. urine, faeces, toilet paper and
flushwater, was collected separately from the greywater. Low-flush vacuum toilets were
assumed to be installed when old toilets were replaced. The system was assumed to generate
vacuum only during faecal flushes with an estimated use of 20 MJ electricity per household
and year (Hellström et al., 2003). The blackwater was conducted in plastic pipes and stored
in a reinforced concrete tank situated below ground near the house. In total, 7.3 m3 of
blackwater was estimated to be collected yearly from each household, calculated from a
daily amount of 20 l of blackwater generated in each household. Twice a year, the blackwater
was assumed to be transported to a farm, emptied into a 125-m3 concrete reception tank and
sanitised in a 32-m3 liquid composting plant constructed of fibreglass-reinforced plastic with
mixer, aerator and pumps in cast iron and pipes and cover in stainless steel. The materials
required for the different parts of the reactor were calculated from data in Bengtsson et
al. (1997). For a well-functioning composting of blackwater, additional organic waste is
required to increase the dry matter content (Norin, 1995). Therefore, 280 m3 of organic
waste from restaurants collected 20 km from the farm was assumed to be treated together
with the blackwater. Adding this restaurant waste gave a dry matter content of 3.4%. The
electricity required for the liquid composting was set to 25 kWh m−3 (Norin et al., 2000).
After treatment, the blackwater and organic food waste were stored in a concrete storage tank
covered with a plastic roof. Based on process data (Norin, 1996), the content of NH4 -N in the
liquid compost was estimated to increase to 60% of the total nitrogen. The user phase was
set to 30 years for the pipes and storage tanks and 15 years for the liquid composting reactor.

3.3. Chemical precipitation

Chemical precipitation in the septic tank provides a simple alternative for upgrading
an existing on-site system with a septic tank. In addition, the sewage sludge generated
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 393

Table 2
Energy use (in MJ kg−1 ) for production of different materials
Fossil fuel Electricity References
PAX-21, aluminium chloride 4.2 0.32 Tillman et al. (1996)
PIX-111, iron chloride 0.97 1.7 Frohagen (1997)
Concrete 0.61 0.066 Björklund and Tillman (1997)
Reinforcement bars 12 2.7 Björklund and Tillman (1997)
Polyethylene 78 8 Boustead (1993)
Nitrogen fertiliser product, 28% N 13 0.47 Davis and Haglund (1999)
Phosphorus fertiliser product, 21% P 4.7 1.8 Davis and Haglund (1999)

contains more phosphorus, thus increasing its fertiliser value. In the chemical precipita-
tion system, all households in the area were assumed to be upgraded with a dosing device
for chemical precipitation installed in the bathroom, with the dose based upon the antici-
pated load. In total, 200 l of wastewater was assumed to be generated per person and day
and the dose was set to 550 g m−3 , a figure based on measurements on an existing on-site
system using aluminium chloride for precipitation of phosphorus (Hellström et al., 2003).
The precipitation chemical was assumed to be the aluminium chloride product, PAX-21
(Table 2). Phosphorus-rich sludge settled in the septic tank and was collected by the farmer.
The septic tank needs to be emptied more frequently when chemical precipitation is used
(Hellström et al., 2003) and therefore the calculation was based on emptying twice a year,
i.e. in total 4 m3 of sludge was estimated to be produced per household and year. The
precipitated sludge was sanitised by addition of urea in the farm storage tank. By adding
an ammonia-based product to the sewage, an efficient inactivation of pathogenic bacte-
ria can be achieved while at the same time the fertiliser value of the treated material is
increased as the nitrogen is not consumed during the treatment. The antimicrobial effect
of urea treatment has been evaluated for fresh cattle manure (Park and Diez-Gonzalez,
2003) and recently for reduction of bacterial and parasitic pathogens in faecal matter
(Nordin, 2006). Based on the latter study, treatment with 0.5% of urea was assumed in this
study.

3.4. General assumptions

On average, each household was assumed to consist of 2.6 persons and the time spent
at home was set at 60%. The amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus excreted in the different
wastewater fractions are summarised in Table 3 and were taken from Jönsson et al. (2005).
These figures correspond well to proposed Swedish design values (Vinnerås et al., 2006). A

Table 3
Composition of wastewater fractions generated from households expressed as g day−1 (Jönsson et al., 2005)
Urine Faeces Greywater
N-total 11 1.5 1.18
N-NH4 10.3 0.3
N-org 0.7 1.2
P-total 0.9 0.5 0.68
394 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

higher dissolution rate as regards different fractions of, e.g. nitrogen, made the compilation
in Jönsson et al. (2005) more suitable for this study.
The Swedish EPA (1985) estimates the reduction of nitrogen in a septic tank to between 10
and 20% and reduction of phosphorus to a maximum of 10%. When precipitation chemicals
are used as a complement, the reduction of phosphorus probably ranges from 50 to 90%.
Mass balances calculated on an existing precipitation system gave a reduction of 80–90%
in the septic tank (Hellström et al., 2003). In this study, the reduction in the septic tank
was set to 15% for nitrogen and 10% for phosphorus except for the chemical precipitation
system, in which the reduction of phosphorus was set to 85%. The reduction of nitrogen and
phosphorus in sand filters depends on complex processes and is thus difficult to estimate.
According to a literature review, phosphorus reduction in sand filter beds loaded with a
mixed household wastewater ranged widely, and was set at an approximate figure of 50%
for Swedish conditions (Palm et al., 2002). The reduction of nitrogen varied between 10 and
80% according to the same report. In this study, the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus
in the sand filter bed was set to 45 and 50%, respectively, independent of the wastewater
characteristics. These figures are higher than reported by, e.g. Pell et al. (1990) for a 2-year-
old sand filter system in Sweden, but lower than reported from a field study of 20 existing
sand filter beds (Nilsson et al., 1998).
For all sewage products used as fertilisers, it was assumed that 10% of the ammonium
content was volatilised during storage and spreading and that the remaining ammonium
replaced the fertiliser calcium ammonium nitrate. According to a literature survey, the long-
term nitrogen mineralisation from organic matter in compost is expected to be 30% (RVF,
2000). However, some of the nitrogen mineralised is released when no crop is available. In
this study, it was assumed that 15% of the organically bound nitrogen reduced the future
use of mineral fertilisers. Based on Ottabong (2003), 50% of the phosphorus in sewage
sludge was assumed to replace triple superphosphate. The efficiency of phosphorus in
urine is equivalent to that of soluble phosphorus (Kirchmann and Pettersson, 1995). It was
therefore assumed that all phosphorus in urine replaced triple superphosphate. A similar
assumption was made for blackwater.
Sedimentary clay soils dominate in the region. As they have a high capacity for delivering
potassium, no potassium fertiliser is normally required. For this reason, only nitrogen and
phosphorus in the sewage products were calculated to replace mineral fertilisers.
For all storage tanks at farm level, the calculations were based on 1 year of storage
capacity. The equipment for collection and spreading of the sewage products was assumed
to be an 18-m3 spreader. Data on energy use for raw material production, manufacturing and
maintenance of the tractor and spreader were taken from Börjesson (1994) and are further
described in Tidåker et al. (2005). The life length for the tractor was assumed to be 16,000 h
and for the spreader 2000 h (ASAE Standards, 2000). The diesel consumption rate for the
tractor was set to 0.48 l km−1 .
For the urine and blackwater separation systems, the sewage sludge generated in the sep-
tic tank was transported 20 km with a fossil fuel use of 1.2 MJ per tonne and km (Sonesson,
1996) and further treated in a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The truck collecting
septic tank sludge for this transport was assumed to be made of the same material as the
tractor and spreader. The energy required for removing nitrogen was set to 10.3 MJ kg−1 N
denitrified (Balmér et al., 2002). This figure includes both the energy required for nitrifica-
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 395

tion (16 MJ) and energy recovered during denitrification. It was further assumed that 24 kg
of the precipitation chemical PIX 111 was used per kg P removed (Bengtsson et al., 1997).
Based on environmental reports from the Käppala wastewater treatment plant, which serves
the municipalities in the region, 97% of the phosphorus was precipitated and 55% of the
nitrogen in the influent was denitrified. Data on the COD removal in the treatment plant
were taken from Hellström et al. (2003).
Data for electricity included grid distribution losses of 3%. All data for fossil fuel included
precombustion. Additional data for the systems are given in Table 2.

3.5. System boundaries

The different wastewater systems require different infrastructural investment in capital

goods, both on household level and farm level. Separating urine and blackwater means that
additional plastic pipes and storage tanks are needed at household level, while sanitation
of blackwater through liquid composting requires construction of buffer tanks and a com-
posting reactor. For all sewage products used in agriculture, storage facilities, tractor and
equipment for collection and spreading are needed. In this study, additional investment in
capital goods related to the recycling systems was included within the system boundaries,
as was the excavation required. Septic tanks and sand filter beds were not included in the
energy analysis, as those were assumed to already exist for all households, and also as they
were considered similar for all three systems. Transport of different construction materials
to the sites was not considered within the system boundaries, nor was end-of-life.
In the chemical precipitation system, the only sewage fraction generated was the
phosphorus-enriched septic tank sludge, which a farmer was assumed to collect. In the
systems with separation of urine and blackwater, both a sewage fertiliser intended for agri-
cultural use and septic tank sludge to be treated in a municipal wastewater treatment plant
were generated. In the energy analysis, the urine and blackwater separation systems included
the handling of septic tank sludge in a large-scale municipal treatment plant. For the urine
separation systems, it was calculated that 2 m3 of septic tank sludge was generated per house-
hold every year. For the blackwater separation system, the corresponding figure was 1 m3 .
In the blackwater separation system, handling of organic waste from restaurants was
included in the system boundaries, thus fulfilling an additional function different from
the other two systems. When systems under study provide different functions, this can be
accounted for by adding subsystems with additional functions or by subtracting excessive
functions (Lindfors et al., 1995). Handling of restaurant waste in the blackwater separation
system was considered using the latter approach, i.e. the energy use for alternative handling
of the restaurant waste was subtracted from the system studied. Consequently, an alternative
to liquid composting for this waste must be determined. In this study, it was assumed that
liquid composting of the organic restaurant waste replaced windrow composting, and that
the plant-available nutrients in this compost would also have replaced mineral fertilisers.
The fossil fuel required for windrow composting and the nitrogen composition were taken
from Sonesson (1996). With a carbon/nitrogen ratio of 30, it was calculated that 23% of the
nitrogen was lost with the compost gas (Sonesson, 1996). The transport of the restaurant
waste (20 km) was assumed to be the same irrespective of treatment and was therefore not
included.
396 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

The three wastewater systems generated different amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to
be used as potential fertilisers in agriculture. In this study, the avoided use of fertiliser prod-
ucts in agriculture was considered by subtracting the energy saved when sewage products
replaced mineral fertiliser products.
The amount of water used for flushing varies considerably depending on the model of
toilet. In the blackwater separation system, low-flush vacuum toilets were estimated to
use approximately 1.5 l per flush, which is considerably lower than a conventional flushing
toilet. Depending on the model, urine separating toilets could use either more or less water
than a low-flush vacuum toilet. In the energy analysis, the different need for water was not
included since a rough estimate showed that the electricity required for pumping water from
a private well was considered minor compared to other sources.
The time horizon was 1 year. However, reduced future need for mineral fertiliser due to
nitrogen mineralised after the first year was transferred to the year under study.

4. Results

4.1. Energy use

The use of electricity was almost six times as high for the blackwater separation sys-
tem as for the chemical precipitation system (Fig. 1). The difference was almost entirely
explained by the electricity required for the liquid composting reactor. The chemical
precipitation system in turn used four times as much electricity as the urine separation
system, due to the electricity used for the precipitation device and for production of
chemicals.
The higher use of fossil fuel for the chemical precipitation system was primarily associ-
ated with the production of precipitation chemicals and urea for sanitation (Fig. 2). However,

Fig. 1. Electricity use for the three systems. Note that the actual height of the bars ‘operation: reactor’ and ‘in
total’ has been attenuated.
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 397

Fig. 2. Fossil fuel use for the three systems.

as urea served as a fertiliser at a later stage, the energy used for the production of urea was
compensated for by substituting other nitrogen fertilisers in crop production. The construc-
tion phase of pipes and storage contributed fairly substantially to the use of fossil fuel in
both the urine and blackwater separation systems. Collection and farm handling contributed
most to the use of fossil fuel in the blackwater separation system, mainly due to transport
between households and farm (37%) and construction and maintenance of the tractor and
spreader (35%). The remaining fossil fuel use related to collection and farm handling was
attributed to pumping, stirring and spreading.

4.2. Recycling potential

The degree of plant nutrient recycling can be expressed in different ways. In this study,
the potential substitution of nitrogen and phosphorus fertiliser products was compared to
the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus originating from the households. Hereby, the plant
availability of nutrients in different sewage products as well as losses throughout the whole
chain from household level to farm level were taken into account. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the
blackwater separation system could replace more nitrogen and phosphorus than the other
two systems. The urine separation system was far more efficient in substituting nitrogen
than the chemical precipitation system, while the chemical precipitation system proved
better for phosphorus than the urine separation system.

4.3. Reduction of phosphorus and nitrogen

By separation, precipitation and treatment in the septic tank and sand filter beds, the
nitrogen and phosphorus in the wastewater was reduced before it was discharged to the
recipient. Fig. 4 illustrates the calculated reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus for the
three systems. The reduction of nitrogen to the recipient was highest for the blackwater
separation system, while the chemical precipitation system was most efficient in removing
phosphorus.
398 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

Fig. 3. Potential substitution of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers for the three systems compared to the amount
originally found in the influent household wastewater.

4.4. Sensitivity analysis

The design and management of small-scale wastewater systems may be conducted in

many different ways. Below, changes in the scenarios are considered and the results are
compared with the previous results.

4.4.1. Chemical sanitation of the blackwater

As clearly illustrated by Fig. 1, the liquid composting process in the blackwater separation
system required a substantial amount of electricity for stirring and aeration. In the sensitivity
analysis, the liquid composting was replaced by chemical sanitation achieved by adding
0.5% of urea to the blackwater stored at the farm. Hereby, investment related to liquid

Fig. 4. Reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus loads to recipient waters for the three systems.
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 399

composting and operation of the liquid composting reactor was no longer required. This
resulted in a decrease in electricity use of 93%, from 876 to 63 MJ per household and year.
However, the use of fossil fuel increased, from 170 to 379 MJ. When liquid composting was
performed, the nitrogen availability increased due to the mineralisation of organically bound
nitrogen, thus resulting in a higher substitution of nitrogen mineral fertilisers in agriculture
and this effect was lost with the urea treatment. Another explanation for the higher use of
fossil fuel when using urea was that only 90% of the nitrogen added with urea replaced
other mineral fertilisers, as 10% was assumed to volatilise.

4.4.2. Higher concentration of urea used for sanitation

In this study, the sanitation with urea in the chemical precipitation system was originally
assumed to be performed with a dose of 0.5% urea. However, a higher concentration of urea
might be necessary if full effect is required in a shorter time-period or if the temperature is
low (Nordin, 2006). As 10% of the ammonium content in the sewage products was assumed
to volatilise during storage and spreading, a higher dose of urea implies that more net energy
is required for the treatment, even though all available nitrogen in the spread product is used
as fertiliser. By increasing the concentration of urea to 2%, the use of fossil fuel increased
from 707 to 913 MJ, while the use of electricity was not affected.

4.4.3. Urine used in the garden

An alternative to a centralised farm-based system is for each household to apply the urine
generated to their own garden. Hereby, the transport of urine to farmland is avoided, as is
investment related to the farm handling. An important aspect is whether urine used in the
garden replaces any mineral fertilisers, since the use of fertiliser products in gardens differs
to a considerable extent between households. In Table 4, the use of energy is compared
for farm handling and handling in household gardens. The comparison was made for one
scenario where all plant-available nitrogen and phosphorus replaced mineral fertilisers and
one scenario where no mineral fertilisers were replaced at all. The results show that both
the net use of fossil fuels and electricity decreased when all nutrients in urine substituted
mineral fertilisers in the household’s garden. However, if no mineral fertiliser products were
replaced at all when urine was spread in the garden, farm spreading turned out to be more
favourable from the perspective of energy use.

4.4.4. Use of phosphorus-free detergents

Laundry detergents containing phosphorus are a considerable source of the phospho-
rus supplied to influent wastewater in Sweden (Swedish EPA, 1995). The composition of

Table 4
Use of fossil fuels and electricity in a urine separation system depending on urine use
Fossil fuel (MJ) Electricity (MJ)
Urine to farmland (100% replacement)a 93 38
Urine to garden (100% replacement) −16 28
Urine to garden (0% replacement) 184 38
a 100% replacement implied that all nitrogen available for crops after storage and spreading replaced mineral

fertiliser.
400 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

Table 5
Calculated reduction of phosphorus (%) for the three systems depending on whether or not P-containing detergents
were used in the households
Urine separation Blackwater separation Chemical precipitation
Detergents with P 67 80 93
Detergents without P 74 94 93

household wastewater used in this study implied that 28% of the total phosphorus load
originated from detergents. Using only phosphorus-free detergents would thus change the
composition of the wastewater and also the effluent quality, especially for the urine and
the blackwater separation systems, which rely on treatment in the sand filter for the grey-
water generated in the households. As illustrated in Table 5, the reduction for the urine
and blackwater separation systems increased, and the blackwater separation system turned
out to have the highest reduction of phosphorus when phosphorus-free detergents were
used.

4.4.5. Higher phosphorus reduction for sand filter beds

In this study, the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus in the sand filter bed was set to 45
and 50%, respectively, an assumption based on different measurements in on-site systems
loaded with both closet water and greywater. However, a few measurements on sand filter
beds loaded only with greywater revealed that the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus
was about 80% (Nilsson et al., 1998), thus considerably higher than assumed in this study.
In Table 6, the total phosphorus reduction for all three systems is shown when the reduction
in phosphorus in the sand filter bed was set to 80%, irrespective of system. As illustrated in
Table 6, a very high reduction was obtained, especially if phosphorus-free detergents were
also used.

4.4.6. Plant-availability of precipitated sludge

The extent to which phosphorus mineral fertiliser was substituted in the chemical pre-
cipitation system depended on the fertilisation value assumed for the precipitated sludge.
Based on Ottabong (2003), the plant availability for sewage sludge was set to 50% in this
study. However, large discrepancies in the fertiliser value from different studies have been
reported (Johansson, 2000; Kvarnström, 2001). If 100% instead of 50% of the precipitated
phosphorus in sludge replaced mineral fertiliser, the substitution would increase from 43 to
85% in the chemical precipitation system, which would thus become the system replacing
the largest amount of phosphorus.

Table 6
Calculated total reduction of phosphorus (%) for the three systems assuming a 80%-reduction of phosphorus in
the sand filter bed
Urine-separation Blackwater separation Chemical precipitation
Detergents with P 87 92 97
Detergents without P 89 97 97
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 401

5. Discussion

Improvement of on-site systems as regards effluent quality is an urgent task and action
is truly needed. It is serious that reliable data on, e.g. reduction in sand filter beds are inad-
equate, especially for sand filter beds loaded only with greywater or greywater mixed with
the faecal fraction, as those systems are becoming more widespread in Sweden. Lack of
reliable data is not only a problem when conducting a scenario study such as this, but in
particular for the municipal authorities responsible for controlling the function of on-site
systems. Earlier guidelines for on-site systems concentrated mostly on technical solutions,
promoting mainly sand filter beds and infiltration (Swedish EPA, 1990). The coming guide-
lines focus instead on the performance of the system independent of technology used, thus
complying more with requirements on the effluent quality. Reliable performance data for
different systems are therefore required.
By applying a life cycle perspective on energy use for small-scale wastewater systems,
aspects related to construction and operation as well as further handling of the sewage prod-
ucts are highlighted. Hereby, the basis for strategic decision-making is broadened. However,
since a scenario study relies on assumptions with varying credibility, the results should be
used for highlighting hot-spots, e.g. parts of the systems associated with substantial energy
use and with room for improvements. By also including aspects other than energy use in
future studies and performing a complete life cycle assessment, more information as regards
the environmental performance could be obtained. Future studies should also include other
alternatives than the three systems evaluated in this paper. A package plant could for instance
be economically interesting if no infrastructure for wastewater handling exists (Hellström
et al., 2003).
The chemical precipitation system was interesting especially when attention was paid
only to phosphorus reduction. An advantage with the chemical precipitation system was
that only minor changes to the conventional system were required. In both the urine and
blackwater separation systems, additional pipes and storage tanks were necessary, as was
a new type of toilet, while in the chemical precipitation system only a dosage device was
required. However, it is important to note that the precipitation is robust only as far as the
dosage is correctly managed, as the phosphorus reduction is dependent on a regular refilling
of precipitation chemicals at household level. A disadvantage with the chemical precipitation
system was the use of fossil fuel related to the production of the precipitation chemicals.
However, if the dose could be regulated by the actual flow instead of the anticipated flow, the
use of precipitation chemicals could probably be reduced substantially, thereby decreasing
the environmental impact.
The blackwater separation system was an interesting alternative when the priority was
to reduce both nitrogen and phosphorus to a large degree. When the blackwater was
sanitised through liquid composting, the electricity use was substantially higher than for
the other two systems. A promising option was chemical sanitation by use of urea. So
far, experiments on the microbial die-off effects have been performed mainly at labora-
tory scale, and experiences are therefore needed from large-scale systems. As illustrated
by the sensitivity analysis, an increasing dosage of urea in the chemical precipitation
system resulted in an increasing use of fossil fuel for sanitation. A higher content of
nitrogen in the sewage products also implies that the spreading operation has to be
402 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405

carefully performed in order to prevent nitrogen losses through volatilisation or overdos-

ing.
The urea dose assumed in this study was based on an investigation on microbial inactiva-
tion in faeces (Nordin, 2006). However, there are indications that sanitation of blackwater
could be performed using a lower concentration of urea. This was illustrated in a field
trial performed during 10 summer weeks in Southern Sweden in which treatment with only
0.1% urea was considered sufficient for bacterial inactivation (Vinnerås, 2005). Research on
urea-based sanitation for sewage products is ongoing and no recommendations are available
as yet on dose rate versus storage time and temperature. Guidelines for different sewage
products are therefore needed before large-scale implementation.
The study showed a trade-off between the phosphorus recycling rate and the use of energy.
Evaluating a recycling system from a resource perspective only on the basis of the amounts
of nutrients that can be recycled is therefore inadequate, since the resources, e.g. energy,
required for this should also be considered. However, both the urine and the blackwater
separation system could be further improved by decreasing the amount of flushwater used
substantially. The energy related to collection and transport to farmland and the dimensions
for the storage tanks could thereby be reduced. However, using less water for flushing
might influence the performance of the system and thus require more participation by users,
including, e.g. more cleaning and removal of blockages.
In watershed areas where the requirements on phosphorus reduction are more moderate,
the urine separation system could be an appropriate alternative as this solution decreases the
eutrophying emissions from the wastewater systems, without using as much fossil fuel and
electricity as the other two systems. Both blackwater separation and chemical precipitation
give rise to sewage products, which require supplementary sanitation and therefore an
infrastructural system for further handling of the product. In this respect, urine separation
provides the householder with an additional option, i.e. using the urine in the garden. Energy
and costs related to collection, storage and spreading are thereby avoided. However, there
are several aspects to consider with this strategy. From the perspective of resource use, it
is desirable that the plant nutrients in the urine replace mineral fertilisers. This might not
always be the case if the urine is used in an extensively managed garden.
When urine and blackwater substituted mineral fertiliser in crop production, the energy
use for these two systems decreased substantially. In this scenario study, it was assumed that
best available technique for spreading in a growing crop was used, i.e. a spreader equipped
with trailing hoses. This assumption was a prerequisite for the high substitution rate of
mineral fertilisers. With a traditional splash-plate spreader, the time when the urine and
blackwater can be used is restricted and the losses through volatilisation are higher. Another
requirement for a high substitution rate is that the content of plant nutrients be known, which
requires analyses of the sewage products before spreading. It is thus important to be aware
of these agricultural preconditions when a farmer is contracted for sewage handling.

6. Conclusions

The urine separation system used the lowest amount of energy of the three systems.
If the urine was used locally and replaced mineral fertilisers in the household garden, this
 P. Tidåker et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 49 (2007) 388–405 403

option was particularly beneficial from the perspective of energy use. However, the potential
for recycling and reduction of phosphorus was also lowest for this system, while that of
nitrogen was noticeably higher than for the chemical precipitation system but lower than
for the blackwater separation system.
The blackwater separation system proved an interesting alternative if both nitrogen and
phosphorus had to be reduced to a great extent and enabled a high proportion of both
nitrogen and phosphorus to be recycled to arable land. A drawback with this system was
its high use of electricity, which was related to the aeration and stirring required for liquid
composting. When sanitation was assumed to be achieved by addition of urea instead of
liquid composting, the electricity use decreased substantially in the blackwater separation
system and became lower than for the chemical precipitation system.
The chemical precipitation system was efficient in reducing and recycling phosphorus,
but inefficient for nitrogen. The use of fossil fuels was considerably higher than for the
other two systems, primarily due to the production of the precipitation chemical.

Acknowledgements

This project was financed by the MISTRA programme Sustainable Urban Water Man-
agement and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

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