Abstract:
Municipal sludge has economic value as a low-grade fertilizer as it consists of appreciable
amounts of the macro and micronutrients. When using sludge as fertilizer, the economic aspect
should be taken into account. In this study, the following specific objectives were identified: (a) to
investigate the economic feasibility of using sludge as a fertilizer; (b) to estimate the maximum
economic distance sludge can be transported as a fertilizer; and (c) to test the economic feasibility
of selling sludge using commercial inorganic fertilizer as a bench mark. The study showed that for
anaerobically digested, paddy dried, municipal sludge consisting of 3% N, 2% P, and 0.3% K the
economic feasibility of transporting the sludge was limited to a diameter of 20 km in the arid zone,
28 km in the semi-arid zone, 51 km in the sub humid zone, 66 km in the humid zone, and 75 km
in the super-humid zone. Therefore, the economic feasibility of using sludge as a substitute for or
complementary to commercial inorganic fertilizer is dictated by the distance between the wastewater
care work and the farm, sludge nutrient concentration, agro-ecological zone (rain and temperature),
and the real-time commercial inorganic fertilizer price.
