Pengomposan lumpr pengolahan air dengan limbah pertanian

Abstract

Water treatment sludge (WTS) contains organic and inorganic solids including algae, pathogens such as bacteria and viruses, sand, clay, and sediment of chemicals that were formed during processing. The main concerns of direct disposal of WTS is the potential toxicity of iron and aluminum from alum and ferric chloride as the primary coagulant used, and also heavy metals content such as Pb, and Zn. Organic and inorganic materials, especially metals contained in sludge are generally labile / unstable which is a concern when exposed to the water bodies or soil. The purposes of this study were (1) to apply composting techniques to WTS as an alternative of sludge handling and to minimize negative impacts on the environment, (2) to analyze the influence of composting process on the quality of sludge in the form of compost material produced, (3) to analyze the quality of the produced compost based on national compost standard of SNI 19-7030- 2004. The composting process used three different WTS from three different water treatment plants. Natural static pile composting method that carried out for 60 days was used in this study. Temperature changes of compost piles which were monitored daily showed that the compost pile undergoing a process of well degradation by microorganisms. This degradation process was stabilizing the concentration of macro and micro elements including heavy metals in the compost pile. Those were shown by the increase and stabilization of macro elements such as C, N, K, and P. The results also showed that composting process can be used to decrease the concentration of metal such as Fe, Al, and Pb. The composting process worked well and produced composts which comply with the compost quality standard. Based on the results obtained, the produced compost can be justified to contain nutrient which is applicable as soil conditioner.