AboutDavid L. Russell, PE Expertise I`m a Chemical,Civil and Environmental Engineer and have a number of projects in all phases of the environment.
I have worked in the chemical industry and am active in professional societies, and am currently on an industrial wastes committee for the Water Environment Federation, and have taught courses in remediation in the US and abroad.
I have written one book on Remediation of petroleum Contaminated Sites, and have a second book on PRACTICAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT to be published by John Wiley in September, 2006. I've also written over 30 articles on various elements of environmental problems and cleanup. Most Recently, I have addressed a NATO Scientific and Techical Conference on Ecoterrorism, and have worked with the same group on remediation of sites contaminated with Chemical Warfare Agent materials and othe materials as well. . I can answer q`s about Chemical and Environmental Engineering, land development, air pollution, water pollution, soil and water cleanup, combustion, international environmental problems, industrial processes chemical processes. Civil and Environmental and Chemical Engineering. Overall, I have over 35 years of experience in this area. Note: I do not answer homework questions
Experience I love work in the third world and developing areas
because it is challenging and one can get a sense of accomplishment.
Question When toilet tissue does not disintegrate before reaching a treatment plant,
and is removed as sludge, it is digested by bacteria all turned into solids, and
used as a fertilizer or incinerated and dumped into landfills or out to sea. I
have researched several areas of study, even tissue companies, and cannot
get an estimate of how much of the >310,000,000 rolls of T.P. used in the
U.S. each year (rough calculation from our 2009 pop. census reported from
the U.S. government) are actually disintegrated before reaching this
treatment, and how much waste is treated as sludge. Surely many treatment
areas are handling waste appropriately, but are most facilities still burying the
solid waste, and even polluting our ocean's with it, or are measures being
taken to eliminate the toilet paper waste? Do all toilet papers eventually
Biodegrade, and if so, can the bacteria feeding from the waste produce equal
contamination?
Answer Here's an answer but it will not necessarily be satisfying. Toilet tissue does disintegrate in the POTW (treatment plant). However, some of it is in fibrous form not recognizable as a paper product, but it does contain some wood fibers. Part of that, say 15-30% as a guess is removed when the sludge is digested, but no one that I'm aware of has ever tried a mass balance for fibers because it's almost impossible to determine the fiber content as wood fibers after it has been so heavily processed.
Moreover, the treatment process does do some biodegredation, but no one I know has any information to support the biodegradation process theory. I can say that it's not really a problem because one only has to look no further than a household septic tank to convince yourself. A septic tank can operate for a family of 4 for many years, say arbitrarily using 3 rolls of TP per week, and the bacteria in the wastes do attack some of the fiber, but it compresses as well and when the septic tank is pumped out it's sent to a wastewater treatment plant for treatment.
The place you might want to try and look for answers is on Small Flows- http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/wastewater.cfm
I did find a reference in a scientific paper where the Japanese indicated that up to 20% of the fiber in primary treatment solids wastewater contained fiber principally from TP.
Realistially, the fiber can be reclaimed but it's not necessarily easy. If the fiber is sterilized and certain types of molds are applied to the fiber, they will attack the lignocellulose which wraps around the fiber and makes it bacterial resistant, and the end product might just be a way of making an alcohol for fuels. Research on that is a way off though.
Finally the sludge is being handled mostly as a soil amendment (depending upon bacterial quality) and once incorporated into the soil, it very readily degrades because of the mold and other things in the soil which attack the fibers.
I know of no program right now to try and eliminate the use of TP. To do so would require everyone to use the equvalent of a bidet.
