Reed bed systems for sludge treatment: case studies in Italy

The RBS technology in stabilizing sewage sludges was clearly proven not only considering the effectiveness in dewatering (Stefanakis and Tsihrintzis 2011; Iannelli et al. 2013) and reducing the pollutant content (Peruzzi et al., 2011b; Matamoros et al. 2012) and pathogen content (Nielsen et al., 2007), but also in improving the organic matter quality of sludges (Uggetti et al. 2010; Peruzzi et al. 2011a; KoÅ,ecka and Obarska-Pempkowiak 2013). The stabilization process, resulting from the synergic action of plant, organic matter and microrganisms, is a combination between mineralization and humification process of organic matter. The organic matter stabilization process occurring in the basins can be successfully studied following parameters usually applied to soil and other environmental matrices. In this paper results about sludge stabilization from four different RBSs in Italy after several years of functioning are reported.