On-Farm Waste Treatment Plant

On-Farm Waste Treatment Plant MANURE HANDLING Miscellaneous 26-6-8 Hog manure is too valuable a resource to ignore, despite its tremendous odor problems, believes Dr. G. Lakshman, president of System Ecotechnologies Inc., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. So Kakshman and his company have devised a two-stage chemical treatment process that works like a city sewage plant. It can be adapted to any size hog operation. He built a test version of the plant that treats the daily waste production from a 300-sow farrow-to finish operation in about 8 hours. And he has mounted the compact equipment on a trailer that he tows from farm to farm. Basically, the process bubbles off the ammonia and then separates the solids from the liquid before further purifying the remaining water. The solids and ammonia can be used to fertilize crops, while the purified water can be reused in the operation for cleaning or misting hogs in hot weather. The process removes all bacteria, including E. coli. "It eliminates the production of all greenhouse gases," he says. "This means the hog operator can create an additional revenue stream by accumulating carbon tax credits that can be sold in the international market." The completely self-contained waste treatment plant consists of a series of interconnected polyethylene treatment tanks, chemical storage tanks, and pumps and valves to move waste and meter chemicals. All the equipment is off-the-shelf and pumps require only 110-volt electricity. The system can be designed to fit the site where it will be set up. He says it can be totally automated, to the point that a worker only needs to flip a switch to turn it on or off. He estimates the cost of processing manure through his processing plant is about half a cent per gallon in U.S. dollars. "That's similar to costs of using earthen storage systems that this would replace," he says. He says costs could be reduced by processing only for odor control, leaving the ammonia in the wastewater. Dried solids from the processor are odorless, powder-like in consistency and rich in nutrients. Lakshman received financial help to develop the process from the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative, Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, the National Research Council's IRAP program and the Western Diversification Fund among others. Lakshman and his company will provide a turnkey operation to producers, along with consulting and monitoring services and the chemicals to keep it operating. He's also looking at modifying the technology for dairy and beef operations. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dr. G. Lakshman, System Ecotechnologies Inc., 222-111 Research Drive, Saskatoon, Sask., Canada S7N 3R2 (ph 306 955-0872; fax 306 975-7011 E-mail: lakshmang@innovation place.com).

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