To assess the potential application of treated sludge as fertilizer and/or soil amendment. These studies enable IWK to develop an inexpensive method of converting sludge to organic stabilized fertilizers for commercial ornamental plants or other land application.

To assess the potential use of treated sludge as soil amendment. The product can be useful for reconditioning of sandy and degraded soils for agricultural and forestry development as well as for ground bioengineering for erosion control and slope stabilization. Nonetheless, development of sewage sludge as soil amendment requires sufficient knowledge on the characteristics of types of sludge produced so as to make an informed judgement on the long-term impact of its utilization.

To develop a technology for producing good quality compost in a short time period under controlled conditions from sewage sludge and municipal solid waste for use as soil conditioner/fertilizer. Results from this study shall enhance development of a viable technology for the commercial implementation of a composting plant in converting sludge and municipal waste to good quality compost.

To identify and quantify the parameters that affect the effectiveness of the use of sludge lagoons for septic tank sludge stabilization and dewatering under the local weather conditions. Development of efficient sludge treatment using sludge lagoon shall help relief IWK immediate problem with disposal of septic tank sludge. The result shall enable formulation of technical, operational and maintenance guidelines for future lagoon designs.

To elucidate the efficiency of using sewage sludge in rehabilitation of degraded forest and ex-mining land. The study will focus on the effects of sewage sludge application on the soil water chemistry and water quality, along with the monitoring of growth responses of the forest plantation species due to application of sewage sludge. The study is aimed to develop an environmentally friendly strategy on applying the sewage solids onto the forest area and ex-mining land, and at the same time demonstrate that IWK is doing its part in preserving the environment for the future generation.

This project is a development of an efficient technology for the production of compost from waste sludge. The study will explore the feasibility of bio-conversion of sewage sludge to compost by solid state cultivation technique, follows by optimization of operational parameters, reactor configuration, kinetic study, sensitivity study and cost analysis. The success of this study will develop a viable technology for commercial implementation

This project is to identify factors, which affect the use of natural local polymer for waste sludge thickening and dewatering. The study will include survey for sources for the natural local polymer supply, flocculation jar test for sewage sludge, follows by design, fabricate and commissioning of a bench scale pilot study. The results from this study will be applied to conditioning and dewatering technique for sewage sludge. The use of natural local polymer will enable the prediction of operating cost in the sludge treatment.

The study is aimed to characterize sludge so as to determine its engineering feasibility and suitability as clay amendment in production of building components. Determination of the best possible sludge-clay mix formulation, effects on structurally important properties and investigate the stabilization mechanism of heavy metals. The effect of temperature profile during firing process will also be studied to determine and compare the reduction in energy requirement for these sludge-clay ratios. A full-scale production trial will be conducted to justify further the laboratory scale in terms of its applicability, suitability and economic feasibility.

To study the performance of upgraded biological processes under the MTP in treating sewage effluent and compare with the design parameters.

This project is to study the performance of upgraded biological processes using plastic filter media in treating sewage effluent and compare with the design information. The study will evaluate on optimizing the performance of upgrade biological processes and the result can be used to develop guidelines for an upgraded biological process.

A project to study the efficiency of using sewage sludge in rubber plantation, its effect on soil water chemistry & water quality, growth response of rubber trees, ability of rubber trees in accumulating toxic elements & heavy metals, effect of heavy metal on quantity & quality of latex, and to analyse the physical, chemical & biological characteristics of soil with respect to bio-organic fertiliser application.

A research work to study the acclimatization and stability of selected filamentous fungi in DWWTP sludge under unsterilised conditions containing and without co-substrate, the growth of selected micro-organisms in terms of bio-conversion of DWWTP sludge, the settling & dewatering characteristics of treated DWWTP sludge, develop the operational strategy of the process, and pilot trial at actual DWWTP.