Impact of heat-treatment on wastewater analytical parameters.

Raw wastewater analysis is an important step in treatment assessment; however, it is associated with risks of personnel exposure to pathogens. Such risks are enhanced during virus outbreaks, such as the COVID pandemic, and heat-treatment is a commonly used mitigation measure. We examined whether heat-treatment compromises wastewater analytical parameters results.

Sensor-based evaluation of a Urine Trap toilet in a shared bathroom.

Urine diversion in a No-Mix Toilet is a promising approach for sustainable fertilizers and reduction of the nutrient load for wastewater treatment; however, user adoption remains a challenge. This study evaluates the Urine Trap, a passive No-Mix toilet design based on the teapot effect, wherein the urine stream inlet is invisible to the user and therefore it does not impact the user experience for increased adoption. This study evaluated the nutrient separation performance of a Urine Trap flush toilet in a bathroom shared by women in two sites in India.

A hands-free stool sampling system for monitoring intestinal health and disease.

Analysis of stool offers simple, non-invasive monitoring for many gastrointestinal (GI) diseases and access to the gut microbiome, however adherence to stool sampling protocols remains a major challenge because of the prevalent dislike of handling one's feces. We present a technology that enables individual stool specimen collection from toilet wastewater for fecal protein and molecular assay. Human stool specimens and a benchtop test platform integrated with a commercial toilet were used to demonstrate reliable specimen collection over a wide range of stool consistencies by solid/liquid separation followed by spray-erosion.

Predictive values of time-dense SARS-CoV-2 wastewater analysis in university campus buildings.

Wastewater-based SARS-CoV-2 surveillance on college campuses has the ability to detect individual clinical COVID-19 cases at the building-level. High concordance of wastewater results and clinical cases has been observed when calculated over a time window of four days or longer and in settings with high incidence of infection. At Duke University, twice a week clinical surveillance of all resident undergraduates was carried out in the spring 2021 semester.

Laboratory Demonstration and Preliminary Techno-Economic Analysis of an Onsite Wastewater Treatment System.

Providing safe and reliable sanitation services to the billions of people currently lacking them will require a multiplicity of approaches. Improving onsite wastewater treatment to standards enabling water reuse would reduce the need to transport waste and fresh water over long distances. Here, we describe a compact, automated system designed to treat the liquid fraction of blackwater for onsite water reuse that combines cross-flow ultrafiltration, activated carbon, and electrochemical oxidation.

Sensor-Array Optimization Based on Time-Series Data Analytics for Sanitation-Related Malodor Detection.

There is an unmet need for a low-cost instrumented technology for detecting sanitation-related malodor as an alert for maintenance around shared toilets and emerging technologies for onsite waste treatment. In this article, our approach to an electronic nose for sanitation-related malodor is based on the use of electrochemical gas sensors, and machine-learning techniques for sensor selection and odor classification. We screened 10 sensors from different vendors with specific target gases and recorded their response to malodor from fecal specimens and urine specimens, and confounding good odors such as popcorn.

Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors.

Technology innovation in sanitation is needed for the 4.2 billion people worldwide, lacking safely managed sanitation services. A major requirement for the adoption of these technologies is the management of malodor around toilet and treatment systems.

Resolving the relative contributions of cistern and pour flushing to toilet water usage: Measurements from urban test sites in India.

A challenge in water reuse for toilet flushing in India and other Asian countries derives from pour flushing practices. It is a common assumption that the amount of pour flushed water used for personal cleansing is small in comparison to the cistern flush volume, however there is a knowledge gap regarding the actual contribution of each water source to the blackwater amount. In this study, digital water meters were used to measure the fraction of water from personal wash tap relative to cistern water that is used for toilet flushing.

Field testing of a household-scale onsite blackwater treatment system in Coimbatore, India.

4.2 billion people live without access to safely managed sanitation services. This report describes the field testing of an onsite prototype system designed to treat blackwater from a single flush toilet and reuse of the treated effluent for flushing.