Sustainability of Biosolids Recycling Confirmed using 20 Year Study #sewage sludge Fact Sheet: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/consumer/az1426.pdf

Sustainability of Biosolids Recycling Confirmed via a 20-year Study - Fact Sheet: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/consumer/az1426.pdf

The University of Arizona conducted this study in an attempt answer some of the most commonly asked questions regarding biosolids. Here are some of the questions answered by this study and presented in this factsheet.

• What Are Biosolids? (includes data - yeah!)
• What are the Biosolids Regulations?
• Land Application of Biosolids in Arizona and in the US
• History of Biosolids Research at the University of Arizona
• Biosolids Research in Arizona: Emerging Issues
• Biosolids Use for Land Reclamation
• Answers to Concerns about the Safety of Biosolids Land Use
• How can we contribute to the safe [use] of biosolids on land?
• Remember
• References and Websites of Interest

First, I love the Remember section and other blue-boxed sections: 

• "As the population grows so will the production of biosolids and the need for safer disposal options.

Biosolids can continue to be valuable renewable source nutrients for agricultural soils, rangeland, and land reclamation as long as the quality of these residues continues to improve.

This can be done by controlling unwanted chemicals (metals, synthetic chemicals, medicines) in sewage streams and by improving biosolids pathogen and pollutant reduction methods."

• "Healthy soils contain hundreds of millions of beneficial bacteria and other microorganisms per gram that recycle plant nutrients, and degrade pathogens and organic pollutants.

Also, healthy soils usually have an excess capacity (minerals, organic matter and favorable chemical conditions) to trap and retain metals preventing them from contaminating plants and polluting other environments.

Soils can continue to provide this valuable service as long as they are not overwhelmed by excessive amounts of wastes, pollutants or other adverse soil conditions."

• "Biosolids are not a significant health threat as long as they are treated, stored, handled, and applied to land following accepted guidelines and regulations.

But, federal and state biosolids guidelines, regulations and monitoring programs must continue to evolve. They must adapt to new concerns about biosolids based on new scientific information."

Although worded very scientifically-jargonistically, the scientists concluded that:

• "Application of biosolids for nonfood agricultural crop production at this arid southwest site seems to be sustainable with respect to soil chemical entities."
• "The study showed that land application of Class B biosolids had no significant long-term effect on soil pH and CaCO_3. However, land application significantly increased soil macro-nutrients (C, N and P). Soil nitrate values in plots that received biosolids or inorganic fertilizer amendments were high indicating the potential for groundwater contamination. In addition, total and available soil P concentrations increased to values above that necessary for plant growth but P values attenuated to background levels at a soil depth of 150 cm. Total metal concentrations attenuated rapidly with increasing soil depth, and were generally similar to values found in control soils at a depth of 150 cm."
• "Overall, the 20 annual land applications showed no long-term adverse effects, and therefore, this study documents that land application of biosolids at this particular site was sustainable throughout the 20-yr period, with respect to soil microbial properties."
• "Data show that land application of ClassB biosolids had no significant long-term effect on indigenous soil microbial numbers including bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi compared to unamended control plots. Importantly, no bacterial or viral pathogens were detected in soil samples collected from biosolid amended plots in December (10 mo after the last land application) demonstrating that pathogens introduced via Class B biosolids only survived in soil transiently. However, plots that received biosolids had significantly higher microbial activity or potential for microbial transformations, including nitrification, sulfur oxidation, and dehydrogenase activity, than control plots and plots receiving inorganic fertilizers."

This section is also worth including. Consumer awareness, responsibility, and actions are critical for all environmental issues!

    “What can be done to make biosolids a safer and more valuable fertilizer source?

• As end-users of numerous household products that contain toxic and hazardous chemicals, limiting the use and disposal of these products into the sewage system will continue to improve the quality of biosolids. What should we do?
• Use no or low phosphate, biodegradable soaps and detergents at manufacturer recommended amounts.
• Do not dump leftover household chemicals such as oil products, pesticides, paints, solvents and medicines down the toilet or sink. Instead, take unused or spent products to local recycling centers.
• Do not use or limit the outdoor use of yard pesticides and avoid chemical spills on driveways, as these activities can contaminate runoff water entering the sewage system.”

Biosolids are Probiotic!??!! Should I eat them??

No, I'm not saying Eat Biosolids! 

By probiotic I mean biosolids build beneficial (Good-guy) bacteria in soils!

Based on what?
 - University of Arizona 20-year study:

• "Overall, the 20 annual land applications showed no long-term adverse effects, and therefore, this study documents that land application of biosolids at this particular site was sustainable throughout the 20-yr period, with respect to soil microbial properties."
• "... plots that received biosolids had significantly higher microbial activity or potential for microbial transformations, including nitrification, sulfur oxidation, and dehydrogenase activity, than control plots and plots receiving inorganic fertilizers."
• http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/consumer/az1426.pdf

- Related blog post: http://biosolidsgrow.blogspot.com/2011/08/feed-your-soils-healthy-plants.html
- Personal interview with Arizona farmer discussing the biosolids-soil-root interactions that take place. The farmer was telling me about the microbes in the biosolids that help the plants' roots better access the nitrogen contained in the biosolids, which means bigger, better, healthier plants.

Added cross-referenced post - 8/25/11

Feed your soils, healthy plants, nutritious food, natural alternatives to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

I love this sustainable approach to farming (see article and link below). Build plant health by building soil health and nutrition, including microbes, so the plants can fend off disease - without pesticides and herbicides. This works for big farmers as well as urban farmers and home gardens alike.

Biosolids also acts as soil activators described in this article below by increasing beneficial microbes in the soil while feeding the plants with a long list  of beneficial nutrients. The foods and vitamins we ingest every day pass through us and are then processed (to remove pathogens) and become nutrient-packed biosolids ready to restart the "cycle of life."

Using biosolids to fertilize big farms, urban farms, and home gardens gets these valuable microbes and nutrients back into the soil where they can do the most good - increase yields and improve the quality of our gardens and even the taste of our food. And the cycle keeps on going. Renewable and sustainable.

Compare this approach to non-renewable, mined, unsustainable synthetic fertilizers. We can't manufacture what nature has designed. We can't take a vitamin in place of eating whole foods. Synthetic fertilizers are akin to man-made, limited nutrients and Biosolids are equivalent to the whole food. The complete nutrients in biosolids make more nutritious foods and more healthy plants able to fend off disease without pesticides and herbicides that become entrenched and long-lasting in the environment. Ah, sustainability, sweet sustainability!

For those wondering, what about the Other stuff flushed down toilets and sinks that you don't want in your home garden. Good thought. We should all be aware and conscious of what we use in our every day lives can impact the environment, and comes back to us in the long-run. The environment is a never ending cycling that passes through our households. Hopefully, we can do our part to use environmentally-friendly products.

For those of us who add some pharmaceuticals to the environment out of necessity, a recent study at a treatment plant found only two detectable pharms in samples of biosolids. The result was it would take 48,000 gallons of biosolids to equal one dose of Viagra. The presence of pharmaceuticals is very small (one drop in a swimming pool) and plants uptake a minuscule portion of that.  USDA and universities have studied these topics for years, and the research continues to ensure safety.

The bottomline is that the nutrients and benefits to plant health from biosolids are nothing short of amazing - especially considering it's local, renewable, and sustainable. Thank you to Pro Soil for their inspiring article!!

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2071936930
http://www.pro-soil.com/blog/bio-brothers/2010/crop-production/wheat/bug-off-soil-activator/

 

Keep Your Crops from Being Eaten Alive

The best way to protect your crops from pests who would eat them alive is to put them on a balanced diet.  

Insects and diseases are opportunists who find their hosts by “listening” for imbalance. A plant weakened by poor soil conditions actually broadcasts a signal insects recognize as food. They can’t recognize the frequency of a healthy plant, however, and will pass it up in favor of the weak or infirmed every time.   

According to microbiologist, Dr. Bruce Tanio, “If you balance the nutrition in the plant no insect in the world will attack that plant.” 

Feed the Soil and Allow the Soil to Feed the Plant

Balancing a field’s soil biology and chemistry decreases the need for chemical pesticides because healthy, nutritionally-balanced plants are more resistant to stress from drought, weeds, disease and insect attacks.

Research has shown in fact, that growers who use a natural, enzyme-rich bio stimulant like Foundation 1-0-1 Biological Soil Activator to feed the soil and “allow the soil to feed the plant” are routinely able to reduce herbicide and insecticide  use by 10% or more per acre with the first application and 30% per acre over three years – without losing yield. In many cases, applying the soil activator has actually increased yields