The characteristics of household wastewater and biodegradable solid waste—A proposal for new Swedish design values

Abstract

The present Swedish design values (DV) for urine, faeces, greywater and biodegradable solid waste were scrutinised and compared to the composition of these fractions in two blocks of flats, Gebers and Ekoporten. For evaluation of the greywater composition, two additional areas were included: the housing area Vibyåsen and a calculation based upon the composition of the sewage sludge in Ryaverken sewage treatment plant in Gothenburg. The parameters scrutinised were dry mass, wet mass, BOD₇, COD, N, P, K, Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb. Based on the results, new updated Swedish DV were proposed for these parameters in the fractions urine, faeces, greywater and biodegradable solid waste.

Keywords:

• Biodegradable household waste
• Faeces
• Greywater
• Heavy metal
• Nutrient
• Urine

Acknowledgements

This study was financed by MISTRA and the MISTRA programme Sustainable Urban Water Management, The Swedish Water & Wastewater Association, The Stockholm Water Company, The Sollentuna Water Company, Norrköpings Hyresbostäder and the Gothenburg Regional Sewage Works (GRYAAB). We greatly acknowledge Ms J. Weglin, Ms Å. Andersson, and Ms. A. Jensen for their hard work during the several weeks of sampling.