OT: Sewage treatment plants biowaste for fertilizer?

Hi, We rent out about 10 acers of land and the farmer wonts to fertilize the land with Biowaste from the local sewage treatment plant. What is the industries thoughts on this? Would you do this to your own land? Long term what are the effects on the land?

Thanks,

Rod

I don"t know anything about that, but if it were me, I"d be asking questions about the bacteria.

You don"t want sewage bacteria in the water supply.

Around here it is moderately accepted. It is handled by a company that manages the mixing in of short paper fiber and composting and testing in order to meet all the federal regs that the state adds onto and then enforces. It is very tightly regulated and is mostly incorporated into silage corn ground.

Several around here get it from one of the local treatment plants, but the plant sprays it, they done allow people to come in with tankers and take it.I dont know what if any treatments are done to it once they fill their tankers. I know of one farmer who has been getting it for several years now. Like my Dad always said, crap is crap, no matter what it came out of.

Around here (southwest Ohio) the ground has to be checked by the board of health, dept. of agriculture and EPA to make sure it wont run off and soil samples are taken before and after this is put down. The ground cant be used for anything for human consumption for several years. Ok for animals to be on it and eat what comes off it. Seen several fields around here that have been done this way and really dose help. Bandit

You are apt to get nasty things like heavy metals, drug residues, etc. from municipal waste that you wouldn't get from the cowbarn.
If this land is just growing various crops for animal feed I doubt it's an issue. But I wouldn't put that stuff on my garden.
It might be interesting to get a good complete soil test as a baseline so if this is continued for years you would have a chance of detecting any changes.

there are all kinds of things in the sewage btdt
if you wouldnt put it on the garden then why would you feed your animals with what was grown and then eat the animals

There's several farms here in ohio that use it because it's free and they apply it.By the time it's processed though it's lost a lot of it's
fertilizer value.

I wouldn't. Lots of nasty stuff in sewage waste.

Where are you located? If you visit the sewer plant they'll probably be extremely helpful. Any heavy metals etc. should be well documented.

Our local plant has a product called enviro which is sludge that is treated with ozone, mixed with fly ash and run through a belt press to remove moisture---the product generates enough heat to kill bacteria. It is sold as a dry product. One plant charges $1.50/ton another charges $5/ton. It is a 1-1-1 fertilizer but also has value as a liming agent.

Around here ( Powell ), they are using solds from the Mt Air sewage treatment plant to raise the land beside the Olentangy River..and now it is not considered a "flood plain" anymore...

Hmmm..that land MUST belong to a developer.!!

They get away with about anything around here...

Ron..

I could be mistaken but I thought they referred to it as malarginite or some similar name. Maybe someone else knows more about. Don't know why I remembered the name.

people eat meat and I still go for what the old people say, and I'm talking my fathers's generation old people, you don't put human waste one vegetables, and cattle don't eat meat . don't care how it's been treated.

Well, that's a long subject... I have a contract with the local septage hauler. In order for him to use my field, he must go thru all types of red tape. Field and application method (Knifeing it in) must be approved by both state and local health departments. Very picky about where he must apply, not near edges of field, property lines, level field, etc. Soil tests, etc. Approval may take several months to move paper from one desk to the next. Real PIA.
Wanted them to rotate through several fields, one year at a time. Then return the field to production the following season - several years in hay production before the field gets anointed again. They want to alternate between between two fields, in a two year rotation. (Can you see a problem here?) Guy from the state's business card says he is a "soil specialist." He doesn't even know about crop rotation. I know far more about soil science than he does.

Meanwhile, the right to farm law says I can spread animal waste pretty much at will. Supposed to incorporate it in 24 hours, except if applied on hay/pastures, where you don't have to incorporate it. Practically all my land is in permant sod. Guess how I apply animal waste? And no, I don't have to go through any state, local inspections, approval.

Milorganite is Milwaukee, WI organic human waste which is dried, crumbled and made into fertilizer.

Muskegon MI has a waste water sewage treatment plant that pumps all the waste water and sprays it over crop land that is East of the city. The crops are used to feed animals or so they say. It is huge and easy to see when flying over at 35,000 feet as it shows up as several giant sprinkler rings on the ground.

co.muskegon.mi.us/wwtf.htm

I say put the human fertilizer waste in Wash. DC. Cause DC has been piling it on us for years.

Time to return the favor.

I would bet that there is a lot BS to go through to put septic waste on fields. No pun intended.

(quoted from post at 17:01:54 09/13/10) I say put the human fertilizer waste in Wash. DC. Cause DC has been piling it on us for years.

Time to return the favor.

I would bet that there is a lot BS to go through to put septic waste on fields. No pun intended.

Click to expand...

we have been looking into this also for some of our hayfields. out my way there is a place in mass. that makes it into a solid just like milorganite that you can spread using a hopper type spreader. i'm still not sold on the whole idea though, i 'm more on board w/ the livestock animals don't eat other animal byproducts and we don't eat stuff w/ our own waste on it. i can't believe they allow them to spread septic water on fields. butsupposedly in the next town over they do.
http://www.nebiosolids.org/

fairly common around here. I haven't had a whole lot to do with it, but here's what I recall form the guys i've talked to. Two main types of application. Waste sludge is the solids collected and pulled out. the other type is spraying of partially refined waste water through an irrigator, typically from what is called a shafer(sp?) system; mostly water with a fair bit of N in it, and less other stuff.

first off, processed sewage has to have a certain level of testing and meet certain standards. they should be able to tell you nutrient content AND heavy metal content and the nutrient management plan has to be adjusted to compensate. usually, heavy metals are below the EPA threshold anyway.

second thing is the nutrient management plan thats required. its effectively the same thing as a livestock waste management plan that many livestock operators have. it will contain details regarding storage, handling, rate and method to apply. big thing is, it tells, when, where and how much they are putting down. before they do anything, they are supposed to have this written and ready to go. They aren't a huge deal.

long term, you probably are going to have a faster build up of heavy metals, and you'll want to be sure your keeping up with soil testing that shows this. in the short term, it shouldn't be a big deal though. like any nutrient source, you'll be concerned about what is going on, and it is pretty high in P if I recall correctly. Treat it like manure and chances are, they will want to apply it at the nitrogen rate, which means you could start building up your soils P level. if you aren't in the production of direct to market produce, you shouldn't have to worry much about pathogens,

My suggestion would be, go into your local USDA-NRCS office, and ask there. They might not know off hand, its not something we do a lot with, but they can certainly put you in contact with the folks that know the local rules and regs. Around here, aside from the management plan and certain EPA prohibitions near towns, theres not much governing it.

The key word is HEAVY METAL. Not on anything I own and eat off that land.

I watched a documentary on this subject. I would say NO!This sludge has heavy metals and pharmecuticals that people dispose of down the toilets. The program showed that dew worms left the fields or died from the sludge. Worms are more important than fertilizers in raising the humus in soils. That says it all right there. I would not have it spread on my land.

I would think it appropriate if one is unconditionally against the responsible use of it to help grow animal feed that one should have a ready alternative, other than heaping it up for our grandchildren to take care of. Remember they outlawed ocean dumping. So how about your back yard?

Nope. Had a neighbor back in the '70's that did, but that was up to him. He's dead of a heart attack, doubt related. His wife is dying of cancer, doubt related. Human poo for fertilizer? Cheryl Crow or however her name is spelled might, but that's up to her. I would never, and I would never shake her hand, and certainly not kiss it.

Duck manure in the garden? I've done that. Dogs love to roll in it, especially after the first rain after put it down.

Mark

I do this for a living.. and have been doing it for 7 years now.

I won't say do or don't do it, totally up to the grower and landowner..

What I can tell you is this:

IN MICHIGAN:

If liquid it has to be injected and maintain a 98% coverage (However, I know in the upper peninsula on tree farms, with a special DEQ permit it can be "sprayed" and left)

If what is known as "cake" (a mostly solid product) it can be surface applied, but must be incorporated within 12 hours

We have to maintain a distance from ditches and wells (distance depends on type of bio-solids and type of well/ water source)

Most bio-solids are lime stabilized, which would make for a good lime source.

We, as the bio-solids applicator have to take soil samples, have them analyzed, notify the state DEQ, wait for their approval, then notify the county and township, and wait for their approval.

There are restrictions on growing produce behind bio-solids, root crops 3 years, crops with ground contact 2 years, and the rest 1 year

We can only apply once per "crop" (basically we can apply after a harvest.. no set time between applications.. could be done in spring and fall of same year, or every fall, or every spring.. whatever best suits the grower)

The family farm has been using bio-solids as a supplement to fertilizer for nearly 20 years now, and the only thing that has shown up so far is our phosphorus has gotten high at which point we can no longer take bio-solids until it comes back down. Our soil tests have not shown a rise in heavy metals.

As was said.. we have a lot of regulations, and for good reason no doubt.

And for the record, I don't lobby for people to join into this.. it is strictly upon one's choice, I just try to answer the questions from my standpoint and let the person asking decide. Some growers swear by it, others will have nothing to do with it.


Brad

A good reply, Brad. Nice

Myself, I think recycling is the only way to farm, but I would be concerned about the heavy metals issue which some rare places have had back in the day.

I think it is very common around here, see the trucks hauling & applying the stuff in spring & fall from several small towns around here.

Notice in the paper this spring said the nickel content was up in the waste stream, they'd have to find the problem if it doesn't go away on it's own or waste disposal fees would go way up. A bit of a hint to the couple industries in town that things were going to go badly for someone that was doing something wrong.

The bacteria & stuff is no big deal to me, one switches between species to break up the bugs somewhat. Use old cow poo to fertilize human food, use old people poo to fertilize critter feed.

But to each their own, it's one of those type of questions....

--->Paul

In Southeast Asia, locals carried honey pots to use on the garden. You better not eat it or your pants will be around your ankles for a few days. My dad would only use chicken manure, or any fowl that had a gizzard to crush up weed seed.
led

Thanks for your reply. I like the idea of recycling. The problem with this country are the NIMBY's. George Carlan term, Not In My Backyard You don't. Everyone wants their garbage pick up and the garbage man can't put it down. Same with sewage and other waste materials. People complain so much, factories move to different countries and we wonder where the good jobs are. If you ask me, there are too many tree huggers in this country.
George

Very well said! A great reply by some one who knows what they are talking about, I think you for your time.

Your call...
I think you're going to find that the PR problems you'll run into are a lot bigger than any actual harm that the product might do. IN this area it's available, treated, heated to kill pathogens, lime stabilized and then dried... and there's an awful uproar any time someone even thinks about using it.
It's just got that 'ick' factor to a lot of people...

Rod