Electrokinetic remediation of metal and surfactant from sewage sludge

The disposal of sewage sludge from domestic wastewater treatment plants is a growing problem worldwide. The European Community has developed the draft of “Working document on sludge” to promote the (re)use of sewage sludge. In Italy, sewage sludge could be disposed on agricultural lands but, in last years, this use has been limited by Italian legislation to avoid the contamination by and the accumulation of both heavy metals and organic compounds in the soils. Analogous regulations have decreased the maximum attainable limit for these pollutants. In order to increase the recycling of sludge on agricultural lands, thus avoiding their accumulation, we need a powerful treatment as electroremediation. The present work reports on a laboratory investigation on the use of an electrokinetic method for the removal of anionic surfactants like linear alkylbenzenesulphonate (LAS) and heavy metals from wastewater sludge.