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An investigation into phosphorus recovery technology

University of British Columbia. Sustainability Office

This report investigates the available phosphorus recovery technologies for the UBC Farm new building centre in the form of Triple Bottom Line Assessment. The technology should be ideally low budget, low tech and sustainable, this means that it should be either zero net or positive. The main phosphorus recovery technologies investigated in this report are chemical precipitation, struvite precipitation, and the Pearl Process. Other technologies exist and are briefly mentioned in the report. Ecologically, building a phosphorus recovery technology can eliminate the excess phosphorus that is sent to the ocean by the wastewater created from human and livestock excrement. Economically, a phosphorus recovery plant overall is quite feasible taking into account the long run at looking at things. It is concluded that it would be economically feasible to construct a wastewater treatment plant first than add a phosphorus recovery process to it in the future. Socially, implementing a phosphorus recovery technology onto a small scale like the UBC Farm can set an example for larger scale applications like the municipal wastewater treatment plant. This in the long run can solve the society’s phosphorus scarcity problem that the world is facing. In conclusion, phosphorus recovery technology is economically, socially and ecologically viable option for the UBC Farm building centre. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. APSC 262; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0108597

Applied Science, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/