Chapter 4
Recycling of Municipal Sludge by
Vermicomposting
Kui Huang, Hui Xia, Fusheng Li, and Sartaj Ahmad Bhat
Abstract Rapid development of wastewater treatment technique has continuously
changed the lifestyle of people and promoted the living standard in the world.
Municipal sludge as a by-product of wastewater treatment plant is often dewatered
by physicochemical methods to reduce the volume of sludge before its final treatment. The dewatered sludge not only contains high organic matter and water content
but also has lots of chemical and biological pollutants that are difficult to be treated
with environmental-friendly methods. Vermicomposting is a biochemical approach
for converting the sludge into high-valued organic microbial fertilizer by the joint
action of earthworms and microorganisms. It has been considered as a sustainable
and competitive technology for recycling sludge, because it is low cost, easy to
handle, and a perfect product. As a green technology, plenty of vermicomposting
practices for treating sludge have sprung up in recent studies. Hence, in this chapter,
the methods for municipal sludge treatment are compared, and the mechanisms and
operation conditions of vermicomposting for sludge are presented.
Keywords Municipal sludge · Earthworms · Sludge recycling · Vermicomposting
4.1 Introduction
Large amounts of wastewater treatment plants in megacity purify the water environment and thus promote the living standard of people in the world. Excess sludge is an
essential by-product from the primary tank and secondary sediment tank in wastewater treatment plant with activated sludge method. After concentrating, the excess
K. Huang (*) · H. Xia
School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou,
China
e-mail: huangkui@mail.lzjtu.cn
F. Li · S. A. Bhat
River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_4
55
Recycling of Municipal Sludge by
Vermicomposting
Kui Huang, Hui Xia, Fusheng Li, and Sartaj Ahmad Bhat
Abstract Rapid development of wastewater treatment technique has continuously
changed the lifestyle of people and promoted the living standard in the world.
Municipal sludge as a by-product of wastewater treatment plant is often dewatered
by physicochemical methods to reduce the volume of sludge before its final treatment. The dewatered sludge not only contains high organic matter and water content
but also has lots of chemical and biological pollutants that are difficult to be treated
with environmental-friendly methods. Vermicomposting is a biochemical approach
for converting the sludge into high-valued organic microbial fertilizer by the joint
action of earthworms and microorganisms. It has been considered as a sustainable
and competitive technology for recycling sludge, because it is low cost, easy to
handle, and a perfect product. As a green technology, plenty of vermicomposting
practices for treating sludge have sprung up in recent studies. Hence, in this chapter,
the methods for municipal sludge treatment are compared, and the mechanisms and
operation conditions of vermicomposting for sludge are presented.
Keywords Municipal sludge · Earthworms · Sludge recycling · Vermicomposting
4.1 Introduction
Large amounts of wastewater treatment plants in megacity purify the water environment and thus promote the living standard of people in the world. Excess sludge is an
essential by-product from the primary tank and secondary sediment tank in wastewater treatment plant with activated sludge method. After concentrating, the excess
K. Huang (*) · H. Xia
School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou,
China
e-mail: huangkui@mail.lzjtu.cn
F. Li · S. A. Bhat
River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_4
55