Sewage sludge waste costs cut

Micro-organisms are encouraged to eat waste sewage sludge

The cost of dealing with waste sewage sludge could be cut, thanks to researchers at Cambridge University.

Most sewage sludge ends up on fields to help improve the soil, or goes to landfill sites.

But now scientists have developed a way of reducing the amount of waste by up to a third by encouraging micro-organisms to eat the sludge.

Dr Alan Tunnacliffe from Cambridge University said: "The problem is these are very small organisms and a lot of the particles they found in the sludge are quite big.

"What we've done is given them a sort of set of knives and forks to shop these particles into something they can eat more easily."

The organisms turn the sludge into carbon dioxide and water, which makes life easier for the water companies.

Commercial licence

Anglian Water has sponsored the research and has taken out a commercial licence to use the invention.

"The more techniques that we can develop to help us deal with the sewage we receive from our ever-increasing population is to our advantage," said Gareth Rondel from Anglian Water.

"It also means we don't have to have such extensive waste water treatment sites.

"We can make them smaller, more compact and more suited to the development pressures we face."

The use of the micro-organisms is currently being trialled at Anglian Water's Waste Water Innovation Centre at the Milton Works in the county.

Mr Rondel said they were looking to introduce the technique as soon as the trials were completed.