Concepts for Phosphorus Recovery and Recycling from Sewage Sludge and Sewage Sludge Ash for Berlin and Surrounding Areas (bePhor)

The new German Sewage Sludge Ordinance of 2017 obliges all operators of large wastewater treatment plants from 2029 onwards to recover phosphorus.This finite resource is an important component of plant fertilizers. This ordinance also applies to all Berlin sewage treatment plants. The 6-month project bePhor will help to prepare a recycling concept, which is technically and economically viable in the long term and adapted to the specific requirements of the Berlin sewage treatment plants.

Against this background, Berlin’s six wastewater treatment plants have to prepare the implementation of corresponding recovery units. After all, the phosphorus potential in the wastewater might cover around 65% of the mineral P fertilizer needs of Berlin and Brandenburg.

The 6-month project bePhor will help to prepare a decision-making basis for the development of a holistic recycling concept adapted to the specific requirements of Berlin’s wastewater treatment plants, which in the long term is technically and economically viable. The scenarios to be investigated include the integrated phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge and the downstream recovery from sewage sludge ash. The project addresses the question to what extent a technical and long term economically viable integration into the Berlin wastewater treatment plants is possible. The results will be evaluated in cooperation with experts from the Berliner Wasserbetriebe. In an external workshop, the preferred recovery concept will be presented and the exact requirements for the phosphorous recyclates will be defined. Furthermore, a consortium for the implementation phase will be established.

Publications

Selected publications produced in the CREAM project are available here .

Financing

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Press and Media

  • Eine Studie des Kompetenzzentrums Wasser Berlin (KWB) und der Bioland Beratung GmbH kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass Struvit aus Klärschlamm als Dünger für den Ökolandbau bestens geeignet ist. Im Vergleich zu verschiedenen möglichen Phosphatprodukten aus Abwasser oder Klärschlammasche sei Struvit die bestmögliche recycelte Düngealternative zu Rohphosphat, teilte die Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) mit, die die Studie gefördert hat.

More information

  • 47. Berliner Wasserwerkstatt: Der Weg ins Zeitalter des Phosphor-Recyclings

    26 March 2019 5:00pm7:00pm

    Berliner Wasserbetriebe, Neue Jüdenstraße 1, 10179 Berlin