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Estimate of N2O release from pit-toilets

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Abstract

The use of pit-toilets has severely contaminated the groundwater with nitrate ions in Mulbagal town, Karnataka, India. This paper examines the potential of nitrate ions in the pit-toilet effluents to transform to N2O and to escape to atmosphere from 16 wards of Mulbagal town. Anaerobic conditions prevailing in the pit-toilet convert 25 % of the available N to ammonium ions. Only 3–33 % of ammonium ions transform to nitrate ions in the pit-toilet and escape with the effluent. During migration to aquifer, only 4.5 % of available nitrate concentration in the effluent transforms to N2 and N2O gases in the 1.5-m-thick saturated zone underlying the pit-toilet; 36–55 % of the gases comprise N2O and the remainder of N2. Further only 18 % of N2O formed escapes to atmosphere, while the remainder is retained in soil solution. Calculations show that 9.88 × 1013 molecules of N2O/cm2 would be cumulatively released from 16 wards of Mulbagal town, over an area of 4.9 km2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    Sudhakar M. Rao & A. Lydia

  2. Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    R. Malini

  3. Undergraduate Program, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    A. Priscilla

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  1. Sudhakar M. Rao
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  2. R. Malini
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  3. A. Priscilla
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  4. A. Lydia
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Correspondence to Sudhakar M. Rao.

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Rao, S.M., Malini, R., Priscilla, A. et al. Estimate of N2O release from pit-toilets. Environ Earth Sci 74, 2157–2166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4203-3

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