Spreading human sewage on fields growing food crops doesn’t sound appealing, but it’s a great fertiliser. What’s more, the practice may be safer than generally thought.
The dangerous O157 strain of the common Escherichia coli bacteria found in human excrement dies out faster than expected when sewage sludge is applied to soils, say scientists at Imperial College London.
Until 1998, over a quarter of the UK’s sewage sludge – the main solid waste produced by wastewater treatment – was dumped at sea. Just under half was spread onto farmland, and less than a tenth incinerated or placed in landfill. Then the European Union banned sea disposal,…
