Stabilization by co-composting dry drain sludge with fermentescible fractions of household garbage from the city of Sokodé (Togo)

Abstract

The management of fecal sludge is a recurrent problem for the actors in charge of the urban environment of Sokodé. Often, the sludge emptied is poured on empty spaces or used, without treatment, on urban and suburban agricultural land and for market gardening; in fact, a survey of market gardeners in the city of Sokodé found that around 40% of them directly use untreated dried sludge to amend their production areas. Consequently, bacteria and worm eggs can adhere to vegetable products and infect consumers. In view of these potential risks, the objective of this work was then to stabilize the organic matter of dried sludge with a view to their hygienic use for the agricultural amendment. In this research it has been developed compost obtained from fermentable fractions of household waste and compost obtained from the fermentable fractions of household waste with sludge (co-composting). Results have shown that both types of compost have a high content of nutrients, which is an advantage for use in the agriculture. Therefore, the assessment of stability and maturity parameters shows that co-composted sludge produces mature compost and can improve soil fertility without biological risk.

Keywords: Bacteria, worm eggs, sludge, organic materials, market gardening.