Life cycle environmental and economic impacts of nutrient management in small community lagoon wastewater systems.

Denis Ruto, Corbin Vincent, Ziya Jang, Pablo Cornejo, Harold Leverenz, Steffen Mehl, Kevin Orner

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in The Science of the total environment, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

State of nutrient management infrastructure of lagoons wastewater systems serving small communities in the U.S.Environmental research. Water · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Denis RutoWadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, 1306 Evansdale Drive, PO Box 6103, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6103, USA.

Corbin VincentDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California State University, Chico, 400 West First Street, Chico, CA, 95929, USA.

Ziya JangDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616-5270, USA.

Pablo CornejoDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California State University, Chico, 400 West First Street, Chico, CA, 95929, USA.

Harold LeverenzDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616-5270, USA.

Steffen MehlDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California State University, Chico, 400 West First Street, Chico, CA, 95929, USA.

Kevin OrnerWadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, 1306 Evansdale Drive, PO Box 6103, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6103, USA. Electronic address: kevin.orner@mail.wvu.edu.

Funding

EPA R840468

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Excess nitrogen and phosphorus discharges from wastewater lagoons pose persistent challenges for small communities, potentially contributing to eutrophication, and regulatory non-compliance. While lagoons remain popular due to operational simplicity and cost effectiveness, they often achieve limited nutrient removal relative to some alternative technologies. This study evaluated nine nutrient management scenarios for small community lagoons in the U.S. using life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis. Scenarios included a baseline clay-lined facultative lagoon, a membrane-lined facultative lagoon, an aerated lagoon with maturation pond, and six aerated lagoon-maturation pond configurations with either biodomes, iron-dosed upflow reactor, packed-bed biofilm reactor, moving bed biofilm reactor, constructed wetland, or an algal pond. Environmental impacts were assessed as global warming potential (GWP) and freshwater and marine eutrophication potential (FEP and MEP, respectively), while economic performance was measured as present worth of costs (PWC) over a 20-year system lifetime. Baseline lagoons were cost effective ($0.20-$0.30/m

Indexed as

Waste Disposal, FluidWastewaterWater Pollutants, ChemicalEnvironmentEutrophicationNitrogenPhosphorusNitrogenPhosphorusWastewaterWater Pollutants, ChemicalCarbon footprintEutrophicationNutrient removalStabilization pondsSustainability assessment

Identifiers

PMID42364364

DOI10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181978

PMCPMC13418470

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.