Evaluating the impacts of nutrients recovery from urine wastewater in Building-Integrated Agriculture. A test case study in Amsterdam
Michele D’Ostuni, C. Stanghellini, A. Boedijn, Leonardo Zaffi, Giuseppina Pennisi, Francesco Orsini
Abstract
Recent studies concerning the integration of agricultural practices in cities demonstrated that Urban Agriculture (UA) can boost new sustainable urban developments. New technologies allow to integrate soil-less cultivation in- and on- mixed-use buildings, creating new synergies between the built environment and the urban food system. Accordingly, resource flows from buildings are an untapped opportunity for the creation of circular urban metabolisms that rely on recycling waste as input for food production systems. On this trail, this research work focuses on evaluating the feasibility of using urine and greywater streams as nutrient solution in a theoretical model of Building-Integrated Agriculture (BIA) located in Amsterdam. Results showed that it is feasible to use urine and greywater as nutrient solutions (NS). However, treated urine showed higher concentration of macronutrients compared to fertilizer recipes found in literature, and therefore needed to be diluted with increasing amount of greywater to match either N or P concentration. Accordingly, P deficiencies in the plants or excessive N concentration were found in the final wastewater-based NS. Future research is highly recommended to assess the quality of plants grown in BIA systems as well as the possible content of harmful viruses and bacteria in the harvested produce.