Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of Athens
Since 2019, the NextGen pilot wastewater treatment unit—also known as the NextGen Sewer Mining concept—has been operating at the Athens Plant Nursery, transforming sewage from Athens’ central network into irrigation water and compost. This unit produces resources for plant growth through membrane bi...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| author | Konstantinos Tsimnadis Giannis Katsenios Stylianos Fanourakis Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos Antonios Kyriakakis Dimitrios Kyriakakis Dimitrios Tsagkaropoulos |
| author_facet | Konstantinos Tsimnadis Giannis Katsenios Stylianos Fanourakis Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos Antonios Kyriakakis Dimitrios Kyriakakis Dimitrios Tsagkaropoulos |
| author_sort | Konstantinos Tsimnadis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since 2019, the NextGen pilot wastewater treatment unit—also known as the NextGen Sewer Mining concept—has been operating at the Athens Plant Nursery, transforming sewage from Athens’ central network into irrigation water and compost. This unit produces resources for plant growth through membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and aerobic sludge digestion. This study experimentally evaluates the effects of NextGen reused water and compost on two common ornamental plant species in Athens, <i>Pittosporum tobira</i> (<i>Angelica</i>) and <i>Myrtus communis</i> (<i>Common Myrtle</i>), compared to the use of tap water and red soil without additional fertilization. The results indicate that NextGen reused water combined with compost significantly promotes both height and weight growth in these plants. However, by the end of the experiment, compost fertilization had a greater effect on the height and weight growth of both <i>Angelica</i> and <i>Myrtus</i> plants when applied independently and watered with tap water, compared to the use of NextGen reused water combined with red soil. Notably, none of the 96 plants withered throughout the experiment, indicating that promising and sustainable technologies like the concept of Sewer Mining can effectively replace conventional and environmentally outdated methods of plant nutrition and irrigation by producing reused water and compost. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c50759bd522d450da6791afc68d40b42 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2571-8797 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clean Technologies |
| spelling | doaj-art-c50759bd522d450da6791afc68d40b422025-08-20T03:43:11ZengMDPI AGClean Technologies2571-87972025-02-01711310.3390/cleantechnol7010013Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of AthensKonstantinos Tsimnadis0Giannis Katsenios1Stylianos Fanourakis2Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos3Antonios Kyriakakis4Dimitrios Kyriakakis5Dimitrios Tsagkaropoulos6Department of Greenery and Urban Fauna, City of Athens, P. Kanellopoulou 5, 11525 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Greenery and Urban Fauna, City of Athens, P. Kanellopoulou 5, 11525 Athens, GreeceDivision of Beekeeping, Sericulture and Other Animal Organisms, Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Veranzerou 46, 10438 Athens, GreeceSchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 15780 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Greenery and Urban Fauna, City of Athens, P. Kanellopoulou 5, 11525 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Greenery and Urban Fauna, City of Athens, P. Kanellopoulou 5, 11525 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Greenery and Urban Fauna, City of Athens, P. Kanellopoulou 5, 11525 Athens, GreeceSince 2019, the NextGen pilot wastewater treatment unit—also known as the NextGen Sewer Mining concept—has been operating at the Athens Plant Nursery, transforming sewage from Athens’ central network into irrigation water and compost. This unit produces resources for plant growth through membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and aerobic sludge digestion. This study experimentally evaluates the effects of NextGen reused water and compost on two common ornamental plant species in Athens, <i>Pittosporum tobira</i> (<i>Angelica</i>) and <i>Myrtus communis</i> (<i>Common Myrtle</i>), compared to the use of tap water and red soil without additional fertilization. The results indicate that NextGen reused water combined with compost significantly promotes both height and weight growth in these plants. However, by the end of the experiment, compost fertilization had a greater effect on the height and weight growth of both <i>Angelica</i> and <i>Myrtus</i> plants when applied independently and watered with tap water, compared to the use of NextGen reused water combined with red soil. Notably, none of the 96 plants withered throughout the experiment, indicating that promising and sustainable technologies like the concept of Sewer Mining can effectively replace conventional and environmentally outdated methods of plant nutrition and irrigation by producing reused water and compost.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/7/1/13wastewater treatment unitirrigation watercompostplant growthplant evaluation experiment<i>Pittosporum tobira</i> |
| spellingShingle | Konstantinos Tsimnadis Giannis Katsenios Stylianos Fanourakis Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos Antonios Kyriakakis Dimitrios Kyriakakis Dimitrios Tsagkaropoulos Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of Athens Clean Technologies wastewater treatment unit irrigation water compost plant growth plant evaluation experiment <i>Pittosporum tobira</i> |
| title | Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of Athens |
| title_full | Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of Athens |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of Athens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of Athens |
| title_short | Evaluating the Effects of Irrigation with Reused Water and Compost from a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Unit on the Experimental Growth of Two Common Ornamental Plant Species in the City of Athens |
| title_sort | evaluating the effects of irrigation with reused water and compost from a pilot wastewater treatment unit on the experimental growth of two common ornamental plant species in the city of athens |
| topic | wastewater treatment unit irrigation water compost plant growth plant evaluation experiment <i>Pittosporum tobira</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/7/1/13 |
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