Celebrating all things Biosolids (treated poop, aka treated sewage sludge). They have an important role in our society (sanitation makes clean water and these great solids) and societal challenges (climate change, nutrient shortages, water quality). I'm going Public with a Passion that is a bit of You and Me Recycled! Science and Nature agree, but yet Biosolids are one of Society's biggest secrets! No more! Treated poop is Biosolids and Biosolids Grow (among other talents)!! Support Biosolids Recycling, have your voice heard here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/biosolids/ Follow me on Twitter @BiosolidsRGreat and Like our Biosolids Buzz page on Facebook!
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Sally Brown wants to Bridge Science Communication Gap. Many missing major Climate Change issues; focused on contaminant minutia
The current issue of BioCycle offers an eloquent and thought provocating article by Sally Brown, Research Associate Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. I've included a few of the great quotes from the article and a link to BioCycle to read more.
"But we aren't talking about streams. The question was about irrigating crops. I told the reporter about a new publication on the safety of reclaimed water put out by the WateReuse Research Federation that places risks into prespective. An agricultural laborer - someone who would be considered a highly exposed person to this synthetic estrogen - in a field irrigated with reclaimed water would need to spend 16,000 years working in the field to get the same exposure to the estrogen as you find in one birth control pill."
"Instead he asked about plant update. The straightforward answer would have been to continue with the comparison, i.e., that plants take up very little if any of these compounds and that they will degrade in soils, and that you would have to eat nothing but those plants (e.g., salads) for decades and decades to get one birth control pill. But instead, I told him about studies we've done showing no plant update and I did talk to him about that one paper out of Toldedo where they had to add chemicals to the water to get concentrations high enough to even see them in plants."
"There is consenus, certainty, within the scientific community on climate change - manmade climage change. For the general public though, more are worried about that part per trillion in reclaimed water than the catastrphic flooding, droughts, and so on."
Read more of Sally's " Keep Talking" ( Subscription required )
BioCycle July 2011, Vol. 52, No. 7, p. 42
Climate Change Connections, Sally Brown
What biosolids can do to your plants. Warning - May not be suitable for all audiences.
These Big Bodaceous Plants are just popping with colors because of the biosolids in their mix. (Those cultures that frown upon bright colors and attracting attention should avert your eyes from these gorgeous gals!)
"That's Great stuff!" I hear my father-in-law tell my husband on the phone a few weeks ago. And here are the pictures to prove it.
Not that they doubted the power of biosolids, but I think it did surprise the in-laws a bit in the actual performance of biosolids (aka treated sewage sludge) and the difference they saw in their flowers.
The biosolids compost stowed away with my in-laws as they made their annual migration to Oregon for the summer. It's the first time they've used biosolids there. I don't think there are any available from the local treatment plant there, so their friends and neighbors will be especially jealous!
Pictured below are two verbenas and above are callies (calibrachoa). I love the exposure on the picture of the callies. Thanks for sharing, Bing and Della!! :-)
What contaminants lurk in sewage sludge (biosolids) compost? Watch out if you EAT more than 60 pounds per day!!! Wanna see the data?
The EPA's "503" regulations that was the most thorough health risk assessment ever completed for any material looks at many complex pathways of exposures (including direct ingestion). They looks at many organic (and inorganic) compounds. After oodles of analyses they determined that only the main heavy metals were contained in high enough concentrations to regulate.
Since then, many of the large urban areas have reduced metals 90% lower than they were in the 1970's when some of the original sewage sludge safety and plant uptake studies were done. The sewage sludge (biosolids) have an amazing simulative capacity and binding capacity that holds on tightly to the metals and other constituents that are present so they are not bioavailable to plants. Then the biosolids go above and beyond and have the ability to remediate (further incorporating even more metals). See early post.
Yes there are metals present in sewage sludge (biosolids). Some may see the data and the numbers may appear to be high. But we have to consider these binding properties of biosolids. PRESENSE DOES NOT EQUAL AVAILABLE TO PLANTS OR THE ENVIRONMENT. This has been demonstrated for decades now and even aging biosolids (sewage sludge) does not "release" these contaminents that they hold so tightly.
I found the following memo on the internet. It gets to some of the questions of other modern organic chemical contaminents in sludge. San Francisco had a wonderful compost program that made compost available to local gardeners. This memo was written in response to attacks from a group that was concerned about what's in their compost.
You'll see the organic contaminents listed are in extremely tiny concentrations that would not be measureable if plants do updake. The memo mentions that dioxins were proposed by EPA in 1999 and then they decided that the risk was so low they didn't need to regulate them. The memo shows the TEQ (toxicity equivalency) in parts per TRILLION. One part per trillion is ONE-TWENTIETH of a drop of water in an Olympic-size swiming pool!
The memo shows that ALL available soil amendments (adding organic matter to your soil along with macro and micro nutrients and beneficial microbes) are comparable in the levels of contaminents they contain. These are very, very low numbers. And I've seen previous reports that show that synthetic fertilizers and any other products will also be in the same ranges. But synthetic fertilizers are not renewable and carbon sequestering (climate change benefits) like biosolids-base products.
There is nothing "clean" in our world. Technology has brought us ultra-low detection limits, so we are finding "contaminents" everywhere (chemical and microbial). We have to consider the levels at which they are present. Very very low levels do not pose health risks. The EPA has done the most thorough risk assessment on biosolids (and these other products on the shelves have similar contents - animal products probably have higher levels of steriods and anti-biotics but they probably are not availabe to the plants).
As Sally Brown recently stated (July 2011 BioCycle article), people are more worried about micro-constituents in the world and missing the big picture of climate change. That is something real, big, and most people don't believe that's true despite the unequivocal science that says it's happening. Biosolids sequesters massive amounts of carbon to the soil to help prevent climate change, but all the debates about contaminents are forcing many biosolids managers to energy options that just add to carbon emissions rather than sequestering in the soil.
"Present-day sewage sludge is Wicked stuff." Wicked parallel between biosolids and Wicked Witch of the West.
This analogy popped into my head when reading yet another one of those “letters to the editor” where the person spouts of “facts” that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yes, Biosolids (also known as treated sewage sludge) is as Wicked as the Wicked Witch of the West in the recent musical. It’s a sad parallel both involving a bad reputation that proceeds them based on first impressions, perceptions, and misinformation.
I am saddened every time I read one of these editorials or an article by a reporter wanting to make an issue sound sexily controversial. Every story worth reading needs a “good” guy and a “bad” guy. Unfortunately because of how biosolids looks (and smells), it has been type-cast as the bad guy.
Yet biosolids, just like the Wicked Witch of the West, has been completely misjudged and actually has a lot to offer the community and the environment!
Science and demonstration over decades has shown that it is safe and amazingly effective product. The EPA’s peer reviews have time and again upheld the regulations as protective of public health and the environment. The State of California Water Quality Control Board’s Environmental Impact Report picked land application of biosolids as the environmentally superior option for managing biosolids. Canada just finished a public consultation that will likely support biosolids recycling as a superior choice.
Sequestering the carbon in biosolids to the soil is incredibly important to climate change initiatives and recycling phosphorus (supplies will dwindle to nothing in next 100 years), making biosolids recycling a critical component of our society's sustainability. Sometimes the "cheapest option" is also the most road-tested, traditional, and environmentally-sound!
In addition, using local sources of biosolids is an environmentally-sound alternative to manufacturing petroleum-based synthetic fertilizers that cannot provide the plethora of critical vitamins, mineral, nutrients, and microbes to build the soil the way that biosolids can. Although there are some studies that infer problems with using biosolids based the presence of contaminants in small quantities, the robust field trials that actually test the soil and the plant uptakes show that biosolids actually bind and prevent uptake - even remediating soils contaminated with metals and allowing them to again sustain life. Biosolids can contain small amounts of compounds (not in toxic quantities or plant wouldn't grow - one studied identified two detectible pharms in biosolids sample and concluded you'd need to ingest 48,000 gallons of biosolids for one dose of Viagra).
The bottom-line? I just had a tomato this morning shared by a colleague using biosolids compost. It was delicious! She gave her friend a bucket of our compost, and he grew a tomato plant noting that he couldn’t believe how flavorful these tomatoes are.
We are lucky that we have a compost product that we can use in our gardens. We are lucky that we can be part of closing the recycling loop, and appreciate the benefits after the odor dissipates. There are a lot of communities who endure the temporary odor and do not get to taste the fruits and benefits of biosolids. They are the communities most impacted and angry. We have worked over the last decade to minimize impacts by improving best management practices and choosing recycling locations away from neighbors. I hope someday we can get to a win-win place where all can appreciate the beauty and benefit of biosolids!
Contact me if you’d like citation for any of my facts above. I encourage everyone to tour their local treatment plant and learn the real facts - don't be afraid of what lies beyond your toilet! Growing with that which comes from you and me is a good thing! www.biosolidsgrow.com
How Green in Your Toilet? Is Your No. 2 making You No. 1!!??
How much poop do you produce?
Apparently the jury is out on this one. Internet sources cite from 0.22 pounds all the way up to 7 pounds per day! We also use abou 100 gallons of water per day.
Where does my poop go?
Some people have septic tanks, a few people handle their own through humanure composting at their house, but for the vast majority of Americans our flushed organic matter heads to a wastewater treatment plant with other local sewage.
The treatment plant separates the solids from the water. Some places recycle the water and some places release the clean water back to the ocean or river. The solids are typically concentrated and treated to remove pathogens through a process called digestion. Digestion is a way of reverse engineering the bugs out of the solids. They hold the solids for at least 15 days at at least 95 degrees Fahrenheit - I like to think of digesters as large crock pots that create a bio-gas that can be used to fuel the treatment plant.
The solids (aka treated sewage sludge) can be then trucked off as a recycled alternative to synthetic (chemical) fertilziers on farms or composted to be used in homes and landscaping. This product is chock-full of all the vitamins and minerals that our bodies don't use (you've heard that all the vitamins we take just pass through us, right?).
Biosolids allows just the right amount of macro and micro-nutrients to get to the plants (including some metals). But biosolids haven an extraordinary ability to bind any excess contaminents so they are not available to the plants. Studies have demonstrated this the most sensitive lettuce plants.
Biosolids can even go so far as to remediate soils! They bind up the excess metals or other contaminants in soil so that healthy vegetation can grow (e.g., mine reclamation).
So if your local treatment plant is recycling your biosolids into a product that you can use at home, you can brag to all your friends and neighbors that you've got a Green Toilet and Your #2 is making You:
#1 Environmental Steward- Sustainability at its finest! Grow - Eat - Go... and Grow again! Biosolids are renewable and critical to reducing the amount of phosphorus that is mined. Biosolids protect water quality with a fraction of the water soluability as commercial fertilizers (phosphorus in biosolids has 40% soluability compared to that in commercial fertilizers).
#1 Gardens & Grass - No matter what you are growing, it will be it's best when using biosolids! They are chuck full of all the good stuff that comes from us and the food we eat to begin with! Synthetic fertilizers and chemials can't compete with natural processes!
#1 Local Recycler - You are closing the loop on your own products! You are keeping compostables (organic matter) out of landfills so they can be used for higher and better uses.
#1 Climate Change Crusader - You are sequestering carbon back to the soil where it belongs (not emitted to the air). By recycling biosolids, we are preventing many thousands of tons world-wide from emission as the solids are burned or turned to methane through other processes.
Thank you for being #1!
Support Biosolids Recycling, have your voice heard here:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/biosolids/ Follow me onhttps://twitter.com/BiosolidsRGreat and Like our Biosolids Buzz page on Facebook!
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The BEST of the BEST Online Biosolids Resources, but only the Tip of the Scientific Iceberg - Biosolids Clearinghouse #sewage sludge
VOICE YOUR SUPPORT! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/biosolids/
Declare your appreciation of sanitation, clean water, and healthy soils by signing this petition!
Support the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles by returning biosolids and their renewable nutrients to the land. Improve our soils, feed our plants, and sequester carbon! Biosolids are Safe and Effective!
Benefits of Biosolids
- Washington State University: http://organic.tfrec.wsu.edu/compost/ImagesWeb/CompField.html
- University of Missouri Extension: http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=WQ427
- Virginia Biosolids Council: http://www.virginiabiosolids.com/benefits/index.htm
- Biosolids.com: http://www.biosolids.com/benefits.html
- OCSD uses biosolids compost onsite and within our cities to build healthy soils: http://www.ocsd.com/environmental/biosolids/compost_program.asp
- Urban Food Producer blog: Biosolids: an intersection of public health, clean water, and sustainable ag
- Virginia farmers and public benefits– “Smith reported that the biosolids-treated pasture stayed green all summer while pastures treated with commercial fertilizer did not do as well. Smith estimated that the biosolids-treated pasture received 50 percent more grazing pressure than the untreated pastures. He observed that the treated pasture not only stayed greener during the summer, but also grew back more quickly after grazing, grew well until the fall frosts, and looked better than untreated pastures in December.” ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/Economics/tools/CropHay/Applying%20Biosolids.pdf
Biosolids is Our Passion!
Urban Gardener and Soil Scientists Perspective - Biosolids: an intersection of public health, clean water, and sustainable ag: http://urbanfoodproducer.blogspot.com/2011/05/biosolids-intersection-of-publi...
Biosolids Grow! www.biosolidsgrow.com
Biosolids Buzz www.facebook.com/biosolidsbuzz
Biosolids Associations
Northwest Biosolids Management Association - http://www.nwbiosolids.org/
Search the extensive science library - over 2,500 entries!
Water Environment Federation - Biosolids section - http://www.wef.org/AWK/pages_cs.aspx?id=1062
Water Environment Research Foundation - Biosolids section http://www.werf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Biosolids
National Biosolids Partnership – www.biosolids.org
Northeast Biosolids and Residuals Association - http://www.nebiosolids.org/
Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association - http://www.mabiosolids.org/
Virginia Biosolids Council - http://www.virginiabiosolids.com/benefits/index.htm
California Association of Sewerage Agencies - http://casaweb.org/?q=node/15
· Greg Kester is the Biosolids Coordinator. Read more about Greg and his extensive biosolids experiences: http://casaweb.org/documents/2011-04-20_Greg_Kester_State_Court_Declaration.doc
Biosolids.com –
· Benefits: http://www.biosolids.com/benefits.html
· FAQs: http://www.biosolids.com/faq.html
· Featured Stories: http://www.biosolids.com/Features/archives.html
Orange County Sanitation District Biosolids page - http://www.ocsd.com/news/displayarchive.asp?Type=1&targetID=12
· Meet our Team
· John Winn
Regulators
EPA Biosolids Page - http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/wastewater/treatment/biosolids/index.cfm
· Effects of Land Application of Biosolids in Arid and Semi-Arid Environments (EPA) - http://dld.bz/abpqA
Tip of the Research Iceberg!
University of Missouri Extension - http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=WQ427
Washington State University - http://organic.tfrec.wsu.edu/compost/ImagesWeb/CompField.html
USDA Biosolids / Soils / Metals Research – (small sampling of available reports and research) http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=949
· USDA/NRCS Biosolids Application in Virgina (report) - ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/Economics/tools/CropHay/Applying%20Biosolids.pdf
· Compost Use: Update on Potential Impacts of Heavy Metals and Dioxins. Rufus L. Chaney , USDA-ARS, Environmental Chemistry Lab, Bldg. 007, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705; Philip G. Reeves, Grand Forks Human Nutrition Center, Grand Forks, ND 58202; Sally L. Brown, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. http://compostingcouncil.org/admin/wp-content/plugins/wp-pdfupload/pdf/177/Sa...
· In situ Remediation/Reclamation/Restoration of Metals Contaminated Soils using Tailor-Made Biosolids Mixtures. Chaney, R.L., S.L. Brown, J.S. Angle, T.I. Stuczynski, W.L. Daniels, C.L. Henry, G. Siebielec, Y.-M. Li, M. Malik, J.A. Ryan and H. Compton. 2000. In situ Remediation/Reclamation/Restoration of Metals Contaminated Soils using Tailor-Made Biosolids Mixtures. In Proc Symposium on Mining, Forest and Land Restoration: The Successful Use of Residuals/Biosolids/Organic Matter for Reclamation Activities (Denver, CO, July 17-20, 2000). Rocky Mountain Water Environment Association, Denver, CO. http://www.rmwea.org/tech_papers/mine_forest_land_2000/Chaney.pdf
University of Arizona Water Quality Center - http://wqc.arizona.edu/
· Dr. Ian Pepper’s long list of peer-reviewed publications. He has been one of the most active researchers in the biosolids field in recent years.
· Treated biosolids safe for agricultural use - http://westernfarmpress.com/equipment/treated-biosolids-safe-agricultural-use
· Wastewater treatment lowers pathogen levels in biosolids - http://westernfarmpress.com/management/wastewater-treatment-lowers-pathogen-l...
Updated: 8/4/11
Compost is Not Enough - but Biosolids Compost comes from the Best - You and Me!
I love this video and the historical context of organic farming and the diminished quality of animal feedstocks. I think biosolids have an important role to play in filling the gap that he is spelling out. You can see in my related articles that all those great foods and vitamins we take, make a rich source of nutrients to grow the next round of veggies. It's a sustainable cycle.
VOICE YOUR SUPPORT! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/biosolids/
Food Security and Sustainability with Urban Farming Square Foot Gardens - Sewage Sludge to Succulent Tomatoes = Sustainability
Worried about what's in your food or how it was grown? If you want the job done right, then do it yourself! The move to urban gardening and locally grown sustainable foods is growing fast. Even in urban areas.
My friend Karen just started her own garden was watering it during our recent visit. "Everything just tastes better when it comes from your own garden. And you know whats in it." Karen started her garden with herbs like oregano and thyme, peppers, and tomatoes. She is lucky enough to have an acre of land to plant away.
What about those of us with "normal" Southern California homes (very small back yards) or even our tiny back patio at our condo. There is hope!
My husband used Mel Bartholomew's "All New Square Foot Gardening," as his guide when he created our own little veggie patch.
He used Mel's method to install a garden in a 5 foot by 2 foot area, and our garden is already providing some beautiful bounty!
Urban soils are notorious for legacy contaminants from previous activities as well as air deposition of lead from brake pads and other pollution. Add in some really gnarly soils types (clay, rocks, weeds ready to germinate) and you have a depressing urban garden picture.
But gardening in containers or raised beds "lift you above all these concerns." You have a clean slate to start your garden out on the right foot. Give it the best foundation you can.
Another benefit is planting each small area (square foot) at a different time (vary by a week or two) so your fruits and veggies don't ripen all at the same time. Because the square foot areas are big enough for a plant that produces plenty for that time frame, but they are small enough that you can plant several different items or similar items with different timings. There are also several different configurations for square foot gardens. We saw some at the fair that make good use of vertical space as well as horitzontal.
Of course our garden includes biosolids (aka treated sewage sludge) compost in that initial mix. Biosolids comes from all of us, so it contains lots of nitrogen and phosphorus to feed the plants and a complete mix of macro and micro nutrients and even beneficial microbes that do great things in the soil to help the plants. Biosolids have been treated to remove pathogens but have all the other good stuff that is natural to recycle back to the soil and sustainable. Biosolids are local (from your treatment plant), comes from you, is a wonderful alternative to synthetic fertilizer, and is a renewable (which is critical when we are facing running out of all mined sources of phosphorus in 100 years).
Some worry about other unwanted things in biosolids. Modern industrial programs and permits have reduced metals exponentially. One pharmaceutical study found that it would take 50,000 gallons of biosolids to equal one dose of Viagra. Add these factors to the amazing protective properties of biosolids (biosolids has rich organic and inorganic factions that create complex binding) keep unwanted constituents permanently bound and not available to plant uptake. (see other related articles here)
The plants do uptake the nitrogen, phosphorus, and lots of nutrients not available in such a complete form with synthetic or chemical fertilizers.
Then let the Beautiful Bounty Begin!
Biosolids Boy and the Compost Kid and the Secret of the Super Soccer field
Mixing biosolids (treated sewage sludge) compost into native soils as a base on sports fields builds the health of your soils which creates great grass and turf. Biosolids premium soil amendment, cost effective, and a local, renewable, environmentally-friendly product. Slow-release nitrogen feeds turf over a long-time and water quality is protected with biosolids water-holding capacity. Biosolids help create a softer, more spongelike soil that actually helps reduce sports injuries. Biosolids are a great foundation when building a new sports field or top-dressing existing fields. They have a host of micro and macro nutrients, retain water, and can actually remediate contaminants in urban soils with a tremendous protective power that keeps contaminants locked in the soil (not available to plants).
