Code of Federal Regulations Title 40. Protection of Environment 40 CFR Pt. 503, App. B—Pathogen Treatment Processes

A. Processes To Significantly Reduce Pathogens (PSRP)

1. Aerobic digestion—Sewage sludge is agitated with air or oxygen to maintain aerobic conditions for a specific mean cell residence time at a specific temperature. Values for the mean cell residence time and temperature shall be between 40 days at 20 degrees Celsius and 60 days at 15 degrees Celsius.

2. Air drying—Sewage sludge is dried on sand beds or on paved or unpaved basins. The sewage sludge dries for a minimum of three months. During two of the three months, the ambient average daily temperature is above zero degrees Celsius.

3. Anaerobic digestion—Sewage sludge is treated in the absence of air for a specific mean cell residence time at a specific temperature. Values for the mean cell residence time and temperature shall be between 15 days at 35 to 55 degrees Celsius and 60 days at 20 degrees Celsius.

4. Composting—Using either the within-vessel, static aerated pile, or windrow composting methods, the temperature of the sewage sludge is raised to 40 degrees Celsius or higher and remains at 40 degrees Celsius or higher for five days. For four hours during the five days, the temperature in the compost pile exceeds 55 degrees Celsius.

5. Lime stabilization—Sufficient lime is added to the sewage sludge to raise the pH of the sewage sludge to 12 after two hours of contact.

B. Processes to Further Reduce Pathogens (PFRP)

1. Composting—Using either the within-vessel composting method or the static aerated pile composting method, the temperature of the sewage sludge is maintained at 55 degrees Celsius or higher for three days.

Using the windrow composting method, the temperature of the sewage sludge is maintained at 55 degrees or higher for 15 days or longer. During the period when the compost is maintained at 55 degrees or higher, there shall be a minimum of five turnings of the windrow.

2. Heat drying—Sewage sludge is dried by direct or indirect contact with hot gases to reduce the moisture content of the sewage sludge to 10 percent or lower. Either the temperature of the sewage sludge particles exceeds 80 degrees Celsius or the wet bulb temperature of the gas in contact with the sewage sludge as the sewage sludge leaves the dryer exceeds 80 degrees Celsius.

3. Heat treatment—Liquid sewage sludge is heated to a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius or higher for 30 minutes.

4. Thermophilic aerobic digestion—Liquid sewage sludge is agitated with air or oxygen to maintain aerobic conditions and the mean cell residence time of the sewage sludge is 10 days at 55 to 60 degrees Celsius.

5. Beta ray irradiation—Sewage sludge is irradiated with beta rays from an accelerator at dosages of at least 1.0 megarad at room temperature (ca. 20 degrees Celsius).

6. Gamma ray irradiation—Sewage sludge is irradiated with gamma rays from certain isotopes, such as ⁶⁰Cobalt and ¹³⁷Cesium, at dosages of at least 1.0 megarad at room temperature (ca. 20 °Celsius).

7. Pasteurization—The temperature of the sewage sludge is maintained at 70 degrees Celsius or higher for 30 minutes or longer.