No slouching on sludge
September 13, 2002
No slouching on sludge
By Lana MacEachern
newglasgow
When you say "organic fertilizer," most people probably think of such things as cow manure or bone meal.
But a wastewater treatment plant in Pictou County is hoping to improve its ability to treat and process human byproducts, with a view toward making the waste more appealing as a soil additive.
Graham MacKinnon, site supervisor at the East River Pollution Abatement System plant, said ERPAS has applied for funding to acquire more equipment so it can treat the residual sludge separated from wastewater to a Class 2 level.
Under Class 2 standards, sludge goes through a thermal blender where lime is added to kill pathogens. It then undergoes further treatment in a pasteurization vessel, where it is heated to 70 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
"The pathogens are completely eliminated," said MacKinnon.
Sludge currently emerges from the treatment plant resembling a loose, wet mud, with a make-up of 80 per cent water and 20 per cent solid. More solid than liquid manure, it can be shovelled onto a truck.
ERPAS is in the middle of a five-year contract with Archibalds' farm in East River St. Marys, which buys the sludge and injects it into the soil as fertilizer, said MacKinnon. The farming operation uses all of the product from the plant, about 25,000 to 30,000 tons a year.
"It always has been in my mind, when that (contract) is ended, to try to have some other options and the only way to have other options is to make the product better," he said.
MacKinnon said there are currently no operations using the same Class 2 technology that ERPAS hopes to acquire in Nova Scotia. There are about 60 such operations worldwide, with the nearest in Canada being in Victoria, B.C. He and others from the RSD2 committee ? a group of the Pictou County District Planning Commission which looks after waste treatment, with representatives from the participating towns and county ? have visited similar Class 2 plants in Kentucky and Indiana.
There are other methods of treating residual sludge to a Class 2 level besides lime and heat, but after looking into the issue for about a year, locals have decided this is the method they want. MacKinnon said it will produce the same quality product for a lower cost than other methods.
He estimates it would cost $1 million to $2 million to get the necessary equipment and construct an extension to the existing plant to house it. The committee has applied for funding through the municipal-provincial-federal infrastructure program and also through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The infrastructure program doesn't appear to be a likely source of funding at this time, he said, but the FCM has an interest in "innovative" projects and responded favourably. The committee is in the process of adding an addendum to its application outlining the exact process it wants to use, and MacKinnon hopes they might receive a decision by the end of the year.
Once the funding for the project is secured and the equipment acquired, the plant can look at how it will market the biosolids. While the product could feasibly be used on backyard gardens and flowerbeds, it would probably make more sense to try to find a large-scale customer, he said.
© Copyright 2002 New Glasgow Evening News
Copyright © 2002 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved.
No slouching on sludge
By Lana MacEachern
newglasgow
When you say "organic fertilizer," most people probably think of such things as cow manure or bone meal.
But a wastewater treatment plant in Pictou County is hoping to improve its ability to treat and process human byproducts, with a view toward making the waste more appealing as a soil additive.
Graham MacKinnon, site supervisor at the East River Pollution Abatement System plant, said ERPAS has applied for funding to acquire more equipment so it can treat the residual sludge separated from wastewater to a Class 2 level.
Under Class 2 standards, sludge goes through a thermal blender where lime is added to kill pathogens. It then undergoes further treatment in a pasteurization vessel, where it is heated to 70 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
"The pathogens are completely eliminated," said MacKinnon.
Sludge currently emerges from the treatment plant resembling a loose, wet mud, with a make-up of 80 per cent water and 20 per cent solid. More solid than liquid manure, it can be shovelled onto a truck.
ERPAS is in the middle of a five-year contract with Archibalds' farm in East River St. Marys, which buys the sludge and injects it into the soil as fertilizer, said MacKinnon. The farming operation uses all of the product from the plant, about 25,000 to 30,000 tons a year.
"It always has been in my mind, when that (contract) is ended, to try to have some other options and the only way to have other options is to make the product better," he said.
MacKinnon said there are currently no operations using the same Class 2 technology that ERPAS hopes to acquire in Nova Scotia. There are about 60 such operations worldwide, with the nearest in Canada being in Victoria, B.C. He and others from the RSD2 committee ? a group of the Pictou County District Planning Commission which looks after waste treatment, with representatives from the participating towns and county ? have visited similar Class 2 plants in Kentucky and Indiana.
There are other methods of treating residual sludge to a Class 2 level besides lime and heat, but after looking into the issue for about a year, locals have decided this is the method they want. MacKinnon said it will produce the same quality product for a lower cost than other methods.
He estimates it would cost $1 million to $2 million to get the necessary equipment and construct an extension to the existing plant to house it. The committee has applied for funding through the municipal-provincial-federal infrastructure program and also through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The infrastructure program doesn't appear to be a likely source of funding at this time, he said, but the FCM has an interest in "innovative" projects and responded favourably. The committee is in the process of adding an addendum to its application outlining the exact process it wants to use, and MacKinnon hopes they might receive a decision by the end of the year.
Once the funding for the project is secured and the equipment acquired, the plant can look at how it will market the biosolids. While the product could feasibly be used on backyard gardens and flowerbeds, it would probably make more sense to try to find a large-scale customer, he said.
© Copyright 2002 New Glasgow Evening News
Copyright © 2002 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved.
posted by Sludge at 7:19 AM
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