Publications de Kai Udert | EPFL Graph Search

Towards circular phosphorus: The need of inter- and transdisciplinary research to close the broken cycle

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element to all living beings but also a finite resource. P-related problems center around broken P cycles from local to global scales. This paper presents outcomes from the 9th International Phosphorus Workshop (IPW9) held 20 ...

2022

Bacteria inactivation during the drying of struvite fertilizers produced from stored urine

Tamar Kohn, Loïc Decrey, Simon Schindelholz, Manfred Schoger, Kai Udert

Human urine can be processed into market-attractive fertilizers like struvite; however, concerns regarding the microbial safety of such products remain. The present study evaluated the inactivation of in situ heterotrophs, total bacteria as observed by flo ...

Amer Chemical Soc2016

Pathogens and pharmaceuticals in source-separated urine in eThekwini, South Africa

Tamar Kohn, Linda Strande, Kai Udert, Christa McArdell

In eThekwini, South Africa, the production of agricultural fertilizers from human urine collected from urine-diverting dry toilets is being evaluated at a municipality scale as a way to help finance a decentralized, dry sanitation system. The present study ...

Elsevier2015

Ammonia as an in-situ sanitizer: inactivation kinetics and mechanisms of the ssRNA virus MS2 by NH3

Tamar Kohn, Loïc Decrey, Shinobu Kazama, Kai Udert

Sanitizing human and animal waste (e.g., urine, fecal sludge or grey water) is a critical step in reducing the spread of disease and ensuring microbially safe reuse of waste materials. Viruses are particularly persistent pathogens and can be transmitted th ...

2015

Technologies for the treatment of source-separated urine in the eThekwini Municipality

Tamar Kohn, Linda Strande, Kai Udert, Bastian Etter

In recent years, a large number of urine-diverting dehydration toilets (UDDTs) have been installed in eThekwini to ensure access to adequate sanitation. The initial purpose of these toilets was to facilitate faeces drying, while the urine was diverted into ...

2015

Inactivation kinetics and mechanisms of viral and bacterial pathogen surrogates during urine nitrification

Tamar Kohn, Ariane Schertenleib, Kai Udert

This paper assesses the inactivation performance and mechanisms in urine nitrification reactors using bacteria and bacteriophages as surrogates for human pathogens. Two parallel continuous-flow moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) were operated over a two-m ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2015

Looking beyond Technology: An Integrated Approach to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Low Income Countries

Janet Gordon Hering, Linda Strande, Kai Udert

Amer Chemical Soc2014

Effects of carbonate on the electrolytic removal of ammonia and urea from urine with thermally prepared IrO2 electrodes

Christos Comninellis, Agnieszka Kapalka, Véronique Amstutz, Kai Udert

Recent studies have shown that electrolysis can be an efficient process for nitrogen removal from urine. These studies have been conducted with urea solutions or fresh urine, but urine collected in NoMix toilets and urinals has a substantially different co ...

Springer Netherlands2012

Fate of the pathogen indicators phage phiX174 and Ascaris suum eggs during the production of struvite fertilizer from source-separated urine

Tamar Kohn, Brian Pecson, Loïc Decrey, Kai Udert

Human urine has the potential to be a sustainable, locally and continuously available source of nutrients for agriculture. Phosphate can be efficiently recovered from human urine in the form of the mineral struvite (MgNH4PO4•6H2O). However, struvite format ...

Elsevier2011