264
R. Majumdar
current circumstances, will be important to contain present and future outbreaks,
ensuring that the community healthcare systems are saved from being pushed to
the limits owing to the increasing pressure on the infrastructure that arises from the
rapidly growing number of infected individuals.
Keywords COVID-19 infection · Biomedical waste · Municipal sewage sludge ·
Sludge hygienisation · Irradiation treatment
11.1 Introduction
Need for efficient management of urban wastewater poses a significant challenge
in many countries, especially the ones that are witnessing rapid urbanization and
subsequent formation of dense urban clusters. The primary bottleneck in managing
the urban wastewater (UWW) arises from the lack of adequate infrastructure, as well
as, the archaic regulations that have not been updated keeping in mind the population
growth and complex socio-environmental attributes of urbanization [1–3]. By 2030,
the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants,
and many of the fastest-growing urban agglomerations are located in developing
regions, viz. Asia and Africa [4]. In a further futuristic estimate, the global urban
population is expected to reach the 6.3 billion mark by 2050 [5]. It is noteworthy that
ever increasing energy costs accompanied by the acute shortage of potable water have
prompted the global urban community to be cognizant of the scarcity of resources
and the need to improve the water efficiency with a view to facilitating discreet
consumption [6, 7]. The increasing environmental, financial and social costs associated with water quality and availability, has forced the practitioners, policymakers,
researchers, as well as, the civic bodies to assign a high priority towards understanding the wastewater management scenario and the necessary remedial actions
[7]. However, owing to the lack of well-organized sewer systems outside the central
areas at many growing urban centres [8, 9] vast quantities of untreated wastewater
flows directly into the environment. It is reported that in Asia about 90% of the
wastewater is allowed either to get discharged into the open water bodies; or to leach
into the soil, thereby increasing the potential risk of contaminating the groundwater
aquifers [3]. In some cases, septic tanks are also found to be directly connected to the
open drains, and such an arrangement significantly deters the reduction of the solid
waste load from the wastewater stream, resulting in a higher load of sludge and scum
in the municipal wastewater stream [10]. The abundance of sanitation waste, which is
a prime constituent of the raw urban wastewater, imparts a detrimental impact on the
health, dignity and overall development of the urban community [10]. Considering
the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 and its potential to spread fast within an urban
community, it is of prime importance to inspect the possibility of incursion of SARSCoV-2 viral particulates in the urban wastewater and their sustained presence in the
municipal sewage sludge. This also necessitates the primary feasibility assessment
of the potential indigenous technological options aimed at hygienising the sludge, in
R. Majumdar
current circumstances, will be important to contain present and future outbreaks,
ensuring that the community healthcare systems are saved from being pushed to
the limits owing to the increasing pressure on the infrastructure that arises from the
rapidly growing number of infected individuals.
Keywords COVID-19 infection · Biomedical waste · Municipal sewage sludge ·
Sludge hygienisation · Irradiation treatment
11.1 Introduction
Need for efficient management of urban wastewater poses a significant challenge
in many countries, especially the ones that are witnessing rapid urbanization and
subsequent formation of dense urban clusters. The primary bottleneck in managing
the urban wastewater (UWW) arises from the lack of adequate infrastructure, as well
as, the archaic regulations that have not been updated keeping in mind the population
growth and complex socio-environmental attributes of urbanization [1–3]. By 2030,
the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants,
and many of the fastest-growing urban agglomerations are located in developing
regions, viz. Asia and Africa [4]. In a further futuristic estimate, the global urban
population is expected to reach the 6.3 billion mark by 2050 [5]. It is noteworthy that
ever increasing energy costs accompanied by the acute shortage of potable water have
prompted the global urban community to be cognizant of the scarcity of resources
and the need to improve the water efficiency with a view to facilitating discreet
consumption [6, 7]. The increasing environmental, financial and social costs associated with water quality and availability, has forced the practitioners, policymakers,
researchers, as well as, the civic bodies to assign a high priority towards understanding the wastewater management scenario and the necessary remedial actions
[7]. However, owing to the lack of well-organized sewer systems outside the central
areas at many growing urban centres [8, 9] vast quantities of untreated wastewater
flows directly into the environment. It is reported that in Asia about 90% of the
wastewater is allowed either to get discharged into the open water bodies; or to leach
into the soil, thereby increasing the potential risk of contaminating the groundwater
aquifers [3]. In some cases, septic tanks are also found to be directly connected to the
open drains, and such an arrangement significantly deters the reduction of the solid
waste load from the wastewater stream, resulting in a higher load of sludge and scum
in the municipal wastewater stream [10]. The abundance of sanitation waste, which is
a prime constituent of the raw urban wastewater, imparts a detrimental impact on the
health, dignity and overall development of the urban community [10]. Considering
the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 and its potential to spread fast within an urban
community, it is of prime importance to inspect the possibility of incursion of SARSCoV-2 viral particulates in the urban wastewater and their sustained presence in the
municipal sewage sludge. This also necessitates the primary feasibility assessment
of the potential indigenous technological options aimed at hygienising the sludge, in