The Hot Poop on Fertilizer from Sewage

There's been some study of biosolids used as fertilizers. The feigned ignorance suggests ulterior motives by the spokespeople and researchers quoted. In the US it is often marketed and sold at the same price as other fertilizers.

Biosolids are the result of composting wastes from waste treatment plants. The solids are dried and granulated prior to packaging - often sterilized at high temperatures. They should not contain live pathogens. There should be no particular hazards associated with casual contact or exposure to them.

Biolsolids do contain the heavy metals and other inorganic components that arrived in the waste stream. The amount of inorganic contaminants will depend on the quality of the waste stream. Obviously lesser contamination is preferable.

Biosolids are typically marketed for non-food uses, such as fertilizing lawns, flower beds, trees and shrubs. They may also be safe for use on animal feed crops and pasturage.

Nature is cyclical, transforming and reusing waste perpetually. Humans use a remarkable amount of resources. It harms nature to try to eliminate the cycling of human wastes. What would be a better way of dealing with this waste, dumping it in rivers and lakes, burying it in landfills?

Jon - what would be a better way to use bio-solids would be to turn them into fuel - such as oil by the "Anything Into Oil" process of high temperature, high pressure - depolymerization - the pathogens would be rendered harmless & I think most if not all the metals would be extracted in mineral form - instead of treating sewage & then dumping it in rivers & lakes - take out the solids & make oil

Want cleaner & well tested fertilizer from sewage, then use worms on the sewage solids.

While high heat will destroy live pathogens, properly run worm reactors( and subsequent testing of the worms) are better at detecting the concentration of heavy metals and other inorganic components in individual winrows.

Furthermore the resulting vermicompost is a nutrient-rich, organic fertilizer and soil conditioner, that can be scientifically verified as safe fertilizer for food crops.

The heavy metals angle has to be down played as studies show that there are very low levels, less than originally feared. That said we have little idea on how much is too much...

The real evil here is the demonstrably higher levels of prions, or protonaceous infectants, which are just now starting to become studied, if not yet understood. They are not lifeforms but can be produced by them, and are thought to be the causal agent in mad cow disease, among others. There is growing concern that they are responsible for Alzheimers, as a prion released from a bacteria called Pfisteria is likely responsible for Alzheimer like symptoms in fisherman along the Neuse River in North Carolina, where effluent from huge pig farms is being discharged in shocking quantities (NYC produces a lot less than these farms on any given day).

WIth known prion counts in sludge reachjing 700 times the regular amount, the use of this material where it can reach water sourcing (read everywhere) is not only ill advised, it is madness. Open marsh type water treatment is a viable and safe alternative to the business-centric practice of selling us our own fecal matter to make a buck. Don't budge on sludge!

HG

If waste = food, we may have to refocus on the way this "waste" was generated in the first place. ==> Instead of trying to figure out an alternative use for sewage sludge, the whole concept of sewage treatment plants (with the elimination of nutrients contained in waste water) MAY be wrong or at least just an insufficient way of looking at the problem.

Milwaukee produces this type of fertilizer from our sewage treatment plants, but from what I understand it is primarily used on golf courses - which seems to be a relatively safe application for it anyways.

Plus I hate golf since they closed down a park that the bike trail (the one I use to get to work) runs thru in order to host some golf tournament thing with TV cameras and all that stupid stuff.

It's well documented that this stuff still contains biologically active compounds. I vote for TDP which breaks down all known large organic molecules including prions & allows for metals recovery.

What HG said about the danger from prions, spreading possible CJD is really worrying. The profit motive always comes before prudence, and the public can never be free from the risks that come with this until we decide to implement a society where corporations are not all-powerful and the precautionary principle is always observed.

The "human dukey slinger" truck makes its rounds to the 100 acre field adjacent to mine. The topography suggests that runoff would go into a spring, a creek, then a river nearby according to the 100-year flood plains & what I have witnessed during heavy rains (especially from hurricanes). I alerted the river alliance & they are looking into sludge fertilizing in the area. Of course the water treatment plant assures us it is safe. I would love to review their science. What can you do in a situation like this?

A major obstacle in testing the "fertilizer" is trespassing. If someone okays tons of sludge being spread on their pastures on a regular basis, they would certainly object to any soil analysis. The closest I can get is collecting samples from runoff onto my property when the truck makes its hourly passes on rainy days.

If you can't dump it into the ocean, & it's too expensive to bury it in landfills (due to regulation of landfills), then how could it be safe enough for personal use???

If it was just "human refuse" like the other animals on the planet leave on the ground naturally, then I could probably handle it. But this is anything & everything that any person or business puts down the toilet or lets runs into the gutters.