The Marine disposal of sewage sludge

Abstract

The environmental impact assessment of the disposal operations of sewage sludge from municipal sewage treatment works is described. In particular, the paper describes the disposal operations of Lothian Region and Thames Water, the sewage disposal authorities respectively serving the cities of Edinburgh and London. A summary is given of the data from monitoring programmes which are carried out as a condition of licences issued for disposal at three sites in the western North Sea. On the available data, it is concluded that sea disposal of sludge is an environmentally acceptable option provided that strict trade effluent controls are applied.