Sewage sludge (SS) is a by-product of processes conducted during the treatment of wastewater. It can be used in many different ways. One of them is the use of SS in agriculture as an organic fertiliser, but the main criterion for such use is the heavy metals (HMs) content. Knowledge of the total content of HMs in SS does not translate into the danger it may pose. The toxicity of metals is largely dependent on their mobility. The mobility of SS from three different wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, which were characterised by an increased zinc content, was examined in this study. The aim of the study was to prove whether the high level of zinc in SS actually disqualifies the possibility of its natural use. Calculations were made for five environmental hazard indicators: the geoaccumulation index of heavy metals in soil (Igeo), potential environmental risk indicator (PERI), risk assessment code (RAC), environmental risk factor (ERF), and the authors’ own environmental risk determinant (ERD) indicator. The obtained results show how important mobility analysis is when assessing the possibility of natural use of SS.

Sewage sludge can be used as an expanding agent in the production of lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) mass. The addition of sewage sludge increases the total porosity and decreases the bulk density of a sinter. The addition of sewage sludge to a raw material used in the production of LECA enabled a decrease in the burning temperature for the maintained operational parameters of a lightweight aggregate. The optimum content of sewage sludge added to a raw material used in LECA production was 5% to 15% of dry mass. The addition of sewage sludge in an amount of 5% and 10% caused an increase in closed porosity.

Popular incineration of sewage sludge results in the increase in heavy metals content in ash. The knowledge of the total content of heavy metals in sewage sludge ash does not demonstrate a potential hazard. The toxicity of heavy metals in great measure depends on the form of their occurrence. The prevailing norms do not require the ecological risk assessment of the environmental burden with heavy metals for the choice of the method of the utilization of sewage sludge ash. The paper presents the research results on the mobility of heavy metals in sewage sludge ash after its incineration. The geo-accumulation index (IGAI), the potential ecological risk index (PERI) and the risk assessment code (RAC) were used for the evaluation of the potential soil contamination with heavy metals. The authors also suggested a new formula, which took into consideration more factors influencing the risk of the contamination of a water–soil environment with heavy metals—the water and soil environment risk index (WSERI). The calculated indices for sewage sludge ash indicate the risk of soil contamination with heavy metals.

Sewage sludge (SS) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has important soil-forming and fertilizing properties. However, it may not always be used for this purpose. One of the main reasons why SS cannot be used for natural purposes is its heavy metal (HM) content. SS from the wastewater treatment plant in Poland was subjected to an analysis of the potential anthropogenic hazard of HMs, especially in terms of their mobility and accumulation in soil. Calculations were made for the concentrations of HMs in SS from the analyzed wastewater treatment plants and in arable soil from measurement points in places of its potential use. The geoaccumulation index (GAI), potential environmental risk index (PERI), risk assessment code (RAC) and environmental risk determinant (ERD) were calculated. Then the values of the indicators were compared with the mobility of HMs, which was the highest risk of soil contamination. It was shown that a high level of potential risk and geoaccumulation indicators did not necessarily disqualify the use of SS, provided that HMs were in immovable fractions.

Sewage sludge ashes in comparison to sewage sludge are characterized by higher concentrations of heavy metals. The mobility of heavy metals in sewage sludge ashes determines their impact on the soil-water environment in the aspect of toxicology. This research statistically evaluates the influence of temperature and duration of SS incineration on the mobility of HM from SSA. For the incineration temperatures 600-980 °C and 2-20 min of incineration, the experiment domain was defined in accordance with the Box's two-factor experimental design. It was proved that it was not the time but the temperature of SS incineration that had the statistically relevant influence on the mobility of nickel and copper.