Sludge Engineering: The Treatment and Disposal of Wastewater Sludges

by F. Dilek Sanin, Ph.D., William W. Clarkson, P. Aarne Vesilind

Publisher: DEStech Publications, Inc.
ISBN: 1932078878

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Book Description

Presents and explains the theory of sludge treatment Covers US and European disposal regulations and practices.

Intended for advanced students and practitioners of wastewater engineering, this text offers the theory and quantitative rationale for treating wastewater and industrial sludges , with public safety and efficiency in mind. The authors bring both an instructional and engineering background to the subject of sludge, presenting the necessary calculations as well as clearly explained design alternatives for each process in sludge handling. The authors are fully attuned to the controversies surrounding sludge disposal and carefully lay out US and European regulations that govern current technologies. The book offers important information on emerging practices for safe and legal sludge disposal. Numerous case studies and sample problems are included.

Book Reviews

When a new title appears on the shelf of bookshops, two questions arise: the first one is if we do really need it, the second is which appeal it has. With reference to the first question, it is to evidence that since forty years only few, very few, texts entirely dedicated to the subject of sludge have been published, being the sludge problem almost always confined in a small part of books on wastewater treatment. This lack has been particularly felt during the last years when the need to achieve a sustainable sludge management strategy has become of greater concern because the conventional and more traditional recycling options, like direct utilisation in agriculture and other land uses, are progressively restricted, and in some cases banned, by legislation, so the development of management procedures to maximize recovery of useful materials and/or energy in a sustainable way has become necessary. And this book faces problems related to sludge management under this light considered that the development of sustainable systems cannot be simply solved in terms of economy and technology, but need to be solved in terms of benefits for future generations. As far as the second question is concerned, the appeal of the book mainly relies on its technical content that, thanks to the specific and recognised competence and experience of the authors, discusses all the items to be considered in sludge management from an engineering point of view, being duty of engineers to develop the technological tools to meet the even stricter standards imposed by normative. However, the book is written in a form not only useful for both students and practicing engineers, but also for professionals with different backgrounds to widen their view on this subject. Another very interesting aspect of the book is that each chapter does contain a specific concluding section, thus giving the reader the possibility to correctly frame all the concepts developed in the chapter itself. Finally let me say that I personally like that the authors clearly and correctly don t use in a generalized manner, as often happens, the term biosolids instead of sludge , but only when this material is used for beneficial land application. - Ludovico Spinosa, CNR-IRSA, Bari, Italy

"Even though the management of wastewater sludges and biosolids may represent half of the overall cost of wastewater treatment, many texts on wastewater treatment neglect these important issues. Vesilind's 1979 text was a landmark in choosing to solely address these topics. Sanin, Clarkson, and Vesilind have finally given this work a well-deserved update. Especially useful are new sections covering land application practices and sludge/biosolids regulations. Sludge issues are truly international in scope and this is also reflected in the new book, covering both policies and practices with a global perspective. This is the best available text for any course on sludge and biosolids management." - Steven K. Dentel, Ph.D., P.E., DEE; Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; University of Delaware

About the Author

F. Dilek Sanin is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

William W. Clarkson is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa

P. Aarne Vesilind is a Professor of Engineering, Emeritus at Bucknell University, Lewisburg Pennsylvania

Customer Reviews

This is essentially the 3rd edition of the original "Treatment and Disposal of Wastewater Sludges" by Aarne Vesilind, first published by Ann Arbor Science in 1974 then 1979. Even though the management of wastewater sludges and biosolids may represent half of the overall cost of wastewater treatment, many texts on wastewater treatment neglect these important issues. Vesilind's text was a landmark in choosing to solely address these topics. Sanin, Clarkson, and Vesilind have finally given this work a well-deserved update.

Sludge technology has changed since 1979. Of course, the regulations and management concerns have changed, too, and in the U.S. we have even tried to change the name to biosolids. But the book went for over 30 years without a new edition. This text lacked incremental updates and thus needed a complete facelift -- a huge task.

The authors have made a determined attempt at this. Especially useful are new sections covering land application practices and sludge/biosolids regulations. These alone make the book worthwhile. However, a few of the original chapters remain largely unchanged. For example, reference lists for the chapters on sludge conditioning and dewatering have median publication years of 1992 and 1980, respectively.

Admittedly, some aspects of sludge treatment remain relatively unchanged. But some have. Newer models of anaerobic digestion, and of thickening and dewatering, are important developments that are not covered. Nor are advances in understanding odor generation. New treatment methods for conditioning and enhanced digestion, such as thermal hydrolysis, warranted greater attention.