The sludge will be converted into fertilizer instead of discharged into the sea.
The Dan Region Association of Towns - Sanitation and Waste Disposal will publish in mid-May a NIS 300 million tender for the construction of eight anaerobic digesters for the conversion of sludge into fertilizer. The sludge, the residue from the Shafdan: Dan Region Sewage Reclamation Project, is currently discharged into the sea.
The Dan Region Association of Towns tried for years to obtain a permit for an incinerator for the sludge, but public opposition dampened the idea. The Association therefore sought a land-based solution to the problem.
Shafdan undertakes tertiary sewage treatment, sending treated wastewater to the Negev for agricultural use, but discharges 15,000 cubit meters of sludge a day into the sea. The sludge is comprised of 99% water and 1% solids.
The discharge contravenes the 1976 Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 16, 2008
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