Work

Seeking a circular economy of human nutrition: sewage farming in four Australian cities

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In an era of increasing enthusiasm for recycling and water conservation, we trace the history of urban Australian efforts to re-use the plant nutrients in human excrement to produce food. From the widespread use of nightsoil on market gardens to experiments with sewage farming in multiple Australian cities, only Melbourne has maintained nutrient re-use through sewage farming. Where other cities had insufficient political support to enable the expenditure, planning and technical adaptation needed to productively use increasing sewage output, Melbourne, located on an enclosed bay unsuitable for the expedient disposal of raw sewage, had institutional leadership that saw sufficient investment for the sewage farm to become a socially accepted long-term success. The legacies of these histories persist into the present.

Source: History Australia

DOI: 10.1080/14490854.2025.2455990

Authors: Andrea Gaynor, Lionel Frost, Martin Shanahan

Institutions: The University of Western Australia, Monash University, University of South Australia

Language: English

Topic: Wastewater Treatment and Reuse

Subfield: Waste Management and Disposal

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Sustainable cities and communities, Clean water and sanitation, Zero hunger

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Australian Research Council