Risk assessment of a septic tank variant used for the blackwater treatment

IF 3 4区环境科学与生态学 Q3 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Pub Date : 2025-09-24 DOI:10.1007/s10661-025-14530-4

Caroline Kimie Miyazaki, Adriano Luiz Tonetti

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Abstract

The reuse of wastewater in agriculture on a single-family scale presents a series of challenges regarding operation, maintenance, and sanitary safety. The present study therefore aimed to assess the potential microbiological risks to which users of a variant of septic tank (biodigester septic tank, BST) are exposed when using this system for treating blackwater (wastewater from toilets) and to propose control measures using the quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) methodology. This methodology entailed mapping the routes of exposure and calculating the probabilistic infection risk of E. coli. The results indicated that there is a microbiological health risk associated with the BST maintenance and usage. It was proposed that the fresh bovine feces addition for system maintenance should be stopped and that the reuse of the effluent for agricultural purposes should be reused via subsurface irrigation. It is therefore vital to exercise caution and implement a risk management strategy in order to ensure the safe dissemination of this technology in Brazil and Latin America.

查看原文本刊更多论文

用于黑水处理的化粪池变种的风险评估。

单户规模的农业废水回用在操作、维护和卫生安全方面提出了一系列挑战。因此，本研究旨在评估一种化粪池（生物消化化粪池，BST）使用者在使用该系统处理黑水（厕所废水）时所暴露的潜在微生物风险，并采用定量微生物风险评估（QMRA）方法提出控制措施。这种方法需要绘制暴露途径并计算大肠杆菌感染的概率风险。结果表明，与BST的维护和使用相关的微生物健康风险。建议停止为维护系统而添加新鲜牛粪，并通过地下灌溉将废水回用用于农业。因此，必须谨慎行事并实施风险管理战略，以确保这项技术在巴西和拉丁美洲的安全传播。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

6.70%

发文量

1000

审稿时长

7.3 months

期刊介绍： Environmental Monitoring and Assessment emphasizes technical developments and data arising from environmental monitoring and assessment, the use of scientific principles in the design of monitoring systems at the local, regional and global scales, and the use of monitoring data in assessing the consequences of natural resource management actions and pollution risks to man and the environment.