Extraction of valuable nutrients from wastewater useful for fertilizer production — Don

A Professor of Civil Engineering, Adedayo Badejo, has said that extraction of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater can be useful in the production of fertlizers to create wealth.

He, therefore, encouraged water engineers to champion sustainable, resilent water infrastructure. 

The University lecturer dropped these hints while delivering a keynote address on the topic “Promoting Circular Economy: The Water Engineer’s Perspective”, at the inauguration of Engr Adegoke Adewale as the 5th Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers, Abeokuta branch,over the weekend.

Badejo emphasised the need for water engineers to think out of the box in ensuring reuse of waste water, submitting that 94 percent of discharged waste water can actually be put to good use for humanity.

He said analysis carried out by the World Bank and some other people had revealed that water demand will increase by the year 2030.

Professor Badejo revealed that water used in the abbatoirs, kitchens, toilet places can be recycled into the system for human use, and that could also be means of generating wealth.

He noted that only a small portion of about 300 billion cubic of water the country has is potable.

 “In Nigeria, we may think that we have more than enough water, like more than 300 billion cubic liters of water, but the the quantity that is potable for us is actually small and people are actually reducing this quantity everyday.

“Those in the cow industry in the abbatoir will use water and discharge it. The people that produce Adire will use the water and discharge it, people that produce locust beans will use water and discharge it, so many places that we have waste water.

“If we don’t think about ensuring that this water is recycled back into the system there will be problems. We won’t have enough water, there won’t be that water security that will be enough for us in the forthcoming year.

“We have discovered from the analysis that have been carried out by World Bank and some other people that water demand will increase by the year 2030.

“And if we don’t take care of that water demand increase there might be issues so that’s why we need to start rethinking now, so that the issues of waste water converting it reusing it back as resource will be actually well considered that is why we need to have a rethink”.

The National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers, Engr Joshua Sanga, represented by the National Vice Chairman, Engr Temitope Aboyeji, in his address urged his colleagues to promote turning waste water into useful resources by capturing biogas from sludge digestion for energy generation.

He, equally spoke on the extraction of valuable nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater to produce fertilizers, and integrating renewable energy resources to power our water infrastructure to reduce pollution

He said, “We as professionals and stakeholders must raise awareness on water conservations, support policies and regulations that embrace circular water management.”

The new NIWE chairman, Adegoke, promised to move the association forward by advancing in the field of water engineering in order to address the challenges of water resource management and to ensure sustainable solutions for our communities

Adewale stated that his team is fully ready to serve selflessly and is committed to innovating, inspiring, and making a lasting impact in the strive for sustainable water engineering solutions.

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