Nutrient Recovery from Human Urine Using Pretreated Zeolite and Struvite Precipitation in Combination with Freezing‐Thawing and Plant Availability Tests on Common Wheat

Abstract

Abstract The nutrient rich fractions in wastewater originating from human urine and can be recovered as solids for more efficient recycling, facilitated handling and storage for reuse in agriculture. Freezing and thawing can be used to concentrate the urine nutrients. Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) can be precipitated as struvite [(Mg,Ca)(K,NH 4 )(PO 4 )·6H 2 O] by adding MgO and additional nitrogen can be recovered by using zeolites. The zeolite in this study was pretreated in two ways: (i) washed and (ii) washed and thermally treated. The P recovery was high (> 97%) and the N recovery was ca. 50 to 60%. There was no significant difference in the nitrogen recovery among the different pretreated zeolites or between the pretreated and the untreated zeolite. Freezing had a positive effect on the nutrient concentration. The acute toxicity of the supernatants was tested on Daphnia magna to evaluate the possibilities of discharging the remaining supernatants to a recipient. The supernatants from the frozen treatments and from the unfrozen and washed zeolites were much less toxic than those of the original urine. The minerals acted as slow‐release fertilizers in climate chamber tests on spring wheat.