_-_this_is_the_feed_material_to_the_process_(8152055703).jpg)
Sludge (possibly from Middle English slutch 'mud, mire', or some dialect related to slush)[1] is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. It can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventional drinking water treatment,[2] as sewage sludge from wastewater treatment processes[3]: 23–25 or as fecal sludge from pit latrines and septic tanks. The term is also sometimes used as a generic term for solids separated from suspension in a liquid; this soupy material usually contains significant quantities of interstitial water (between the solid particles). Sludge can consist of a variety of particles, such as animal manure.[4][not specific enough to verify]
Industrial wastewater treatment plants produce solids that are also referred to as sludge. This can be generated from biological or physical-chemical processes.
In the activated sludge process for wastewater treatment, the terms "waste activated sludge" and "return activated sludge" are used.
Sludge from the food-processing and beverage-making industries can have a high content of protein and other nutrients. Thus, it can be processed for beneficial uses such as animal feed, rather than being landfilled.
- ^ "sludge | Search Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ^ Edzwald, James K., ed. (2011). Water Quality and Treatment (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-163011-5.
- ^ Bustillo-Lecompte, Ciro; Mehrvar, Mehrab (2017-05-03), "Slaughterhouse Wastewater: Treatment, Management and Resource Recovery", Physico-Chemical Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery, InTech, doi:10.5772/65499, ISBN 978-953-51-3129-8, retrieved 2024-11-06
- ^ Byfield, Mike (July 7, 1997). "Farmers line up for their slug of pulp sludge". Alberta Newsprint Co.