Tracking ammonia emissions in wastewater treatment

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-10-08 20:00

Australia; VIC; QLD

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Agriculture is the largest contributor to atmospheric ammonia, but researchers have discovered a common step in wastewater treatment is releasing far more ammonia into the atmosphere than previously recognised. Australian researchers have confirmed sludge drying pans – a common fixture in treatment plants – also release ammonia gas, an emission generally overlooked in wastewater operations.

Journal/
conference: Nature Water

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland

Funder: We thank Melbourne Water for funding and access to operational data. We acknowledge D. Milano and R. Gough at Melbourne Water for their kind assistance. We also thank R. Trouvé for kindly assisting in the field. M.B. acknowledges the support of Australian Research Council Hub Smart Fertilizer. Z.W. and L.Y. would like to acknowledge the support of Australian Research Council Research Hub (IH210100001).

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