Innovation Cuts Sludge Disposal Costs.

Yasuzo Sakai of Utsunomiya University (Tochigi, Japan) has proposed an innovative technique for treating and purifying wastewater that could spare budget-strapped municipalities some of the expense of handling the sludge that remains after treatment. Sakai told an audience at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans it could reduce the amount of leftover sludge by up to five tons a day for a plant that serves 100,000 people.

The new technique, called the activated magnetic sludge process, is a twist in the technique of magnetic separation. Normal activated sludge treatment involves the use of bacteria that help purify the water by …