Prefabricated biogas reactor-based systems for community wastewater and organic waste treatment in developing regions

Abstract

Population densities in cities of developing countries are much higher than in other parts of the world, and the predominance of poverty in urban slums is ubiquitous throughout the region. In many urban areas, the lack of wastewater and waste management continues to be a huge challenge for environment and health protection. Decentralized approaches are proposed to provide practical, alternative options for sustainable urban wastewater and waste management in urban conditions. Conventionally, on-site constructed brick/concrete biogas reactors are the most used models. However, long construction periods, quality issues and leakage of biogas are often the disadvantages of construction design. In contrast to these systems, prefabricated biogas reactors can be produced off-site from different kinds of material. In this paper, prefabricated biogas reactor and treatment systems will be discussed, which could be applied in different developing countries. Meanwhile, some existing cases in China, Indonesia and South Africa are presented to show clear scenarios. © IWA Publishing 2014.