TOC Standards for Sustainably Managing Refractory Organic Matter in Swine Wastewater Effluent

Abstract

Swine wastewater effluent is a key source of water contamination since it contains high levels of nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as nitrates and refractory organic matter (ROM). ROM refers to organic compounds that are usually resistant to microbial degradation. When swine wastewater effluent containing high levels of ROM is subsequently discharged into rivers and streams without being adequately treated, purification costs for drinking water increase and there remains a possibility for harmful substances to enter the human body. In this study, we introduce new methods for setting total organic carbon (TOC) water quality standards for discharging swine wastewater effluent containing high levels of ROM after treatment. To set the TOC water quality standards, various analysis methods based on statistics, technology, and experience based on operational data of livestock-manure treatment facilities were applied. In addition, the achievability of the proposed TOC standards in livestock-manure treatment facilities and the financial burden of their implementation on livestock farms were also reviewed. Here, we set tentative values that include all of our results derived from each methodology and set the TOC standards to levels that can be achieved through the normal operation of swine-wastewater treatment facilities (60 mg/L for public treatment facilities and 140 mg/L for treatment facilities operated by individual farms). When setting TOC standards, both single and combined methodologies should be considered and employed after comprehensively assessing livestock management policies, regional conditions, and the burden on stakeholders.

Continuous Heterogeneous Fenton for Swine Wastewater Treatment: Converting an Industry Waste into a Wastewater Treatment Material

“…About 1 million pigs, corresponding to 102 million tons of meat, are produced per year. China leads the production with approximately 450 million pigs, followed by the European Union with 140 million, and the United States of America with 74 million heads in April 2022 [6][7][8].…”

“…The intensive meat production industry has critical consequences for public health and the environment due to the residues that are generated, namely animal wastes, contaminated wastewater, and the release of different kinds of gases [4]. Moreover, this livestock production results in high water consumption (an estimated of 6 m 3 /kg of pork meat in Brazil), with the swine industry being responsible for about 43% of the generated livestock wastewater [4,8,9]. The swine wastewater (SW) is complex, being characterized by high organic loads due to the existence of fatty acids, nitrogen, phosphorous, heavy metals, antibiotics, suspended solids, and fecal coliforms [1,4,6,9].…”

“…Therefore, the correct water/wastewater management (with the correct water reuse) must be addressed, since it can mitigate the water scarcity and contamination problems [9,25]. Several countries have implemented policies to encourage proper SW management and treatment [8]. The SW treatment is usually done by biological systems (such as aerobic lagoons, anaerobic lagoons, anaerobic packed-bed reactors, anaerobic filters, anaerobic bioreactors), but these conventional methods may not be capable of reaching the legal limits for discharge [9].…”

Operation Status and Effective Operation Management Model for On-Site Swine Wastewater Treatment Facilities

“…China produced 454.8 million head of swine and United States produced 74.1 million in 2021 [1]. As the number of pigs reared for livestock increases, the generation of pig manure wastewater is also increasing [2,3].…”

Resource and Energy Utilization of Swine Wastewater Treatment: Recent Progress and Future Directions

“…Currently, many nations have implemented policies to encourage the treatment and resource recycling of swine wastewater [3]. Researchers also primarily focused on two perspectives in studying the resource utilization of swine wastewater.…”