Recycled human waste on hay fields

[The Haymaker]

I'm fascinated by the public's tendency to deny that human waste exists and it has to go somewhere. Why do people always say "I have to go to the bathroom" like it's the most embarassing thing they could mention. Like it's some kind of forbidden addiction? Our town's little waste treatment facility is a series of lagoons and a spray field. They just happen to harvest hay off of the spray field. I think some years they even harvest grain (for animal feed) off the fields. I'd feed the hay to any of my animals. I'd feed my family any of the animals fed by that hay. (Same for the grain.)

No matter how you dress it in popular environmental terms or public health debate, it's still the adult version of the 2-year-old's "Icky poopoo gakaa". Or, if you're 6, "Hee Hee! You said Poopoo!"

My wife wishes I were that way. For some reason "Hey Honey, come check this out, do you have the number for Guiness?" does not seem humorous to her.

Someone asked, but I've not come across the answer yet. Where does the heavy metal come from? The answer of "pipes" doesn't settle well with me simply because we'd all be dead or morphed.... Or sterile like the Romans.

 

[plowking]

My wife wishes I were that way. For some reason "Hey Honey, come check this out, do you have the number for Guiness?" does not seem humorous to her.

Someone asked, but I've not come across the answer yet. Where does the heavy metal come from? The answer of "pipes" doesn't settle well with me simply because we'd all be dead or morphed.... Or sterile like the Romans.

Heavy metal from pipes was part of the answer, industry was mentioned also. Dark rooms, silk screening,dry cleaners,metal plating or machine shops a possibly. Lead or lead used in pipe joints could contribute as well. Treatment plants in Northeast generally truck there sludge after treatment to receiving sites,some out of state. It is kinda tit for tat,if you send septic trucks interstate to dump loads at treatment plants generated from homes,businesses in your state, you better plan on having them ship some of the sludge back to you. Different states have different environmental laws,states that have less strict laws probably get more of the sludge for landfills,etc. Some plants do use incinerators with scrubbers,but I'm not up on that technology. plowking

 

[ShenandoahJoe]

@Iplayfarmer: Let the record show that most of the people who live in Montgomery County, MD are government bureaucrats.


F1520: I could have lived my whole life without seeing that, and been just fine.

 

[F1520]

F1520: I could have lived my whole life without seeing that, and been just fine.

Can we judge such a book by its cover?

 

[dave1949]

Humanure is nothing new :laughing:

Ever read about the outhouse archeologists who specialize in excavating old privy pits? All sorts of interesting things fall in over time, and rarely does anyone want to fetch them out at the time. Also they were great places to dump incriminating objects.
Dave.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Heres my dealings s with sludge. I have a friend that worked for a cotton and pine seed co. They used sludge on feilds that were to chave only fiber or pulp crops on them. They processed their facilities own human waste in sludge drying ponds. The sludges were screened for inorganic solids then pumped to drying beds. Then the dry sludge was put out on cotton and pine tree feilds. It had to be disced into the ground in 24 hours. Couldnt be within 100 yards of a waterway either. All the way around the filds had to be a 20 foot wide grass strip that was at least 12 inches tall.

We are getting sludge here now. Many are fighting it, its in no way truly composted either. Compost is supposed to be a sweeter smelling substance when done properly. You can smell this stuff long ways off further than hog or chicken waste. The old man that runs the compactor for me at work brought a new clipping from I believe Lawrence Co. AL where a lady that fed birds had a neighbor that had the dry sludge put out on the place. The paper showed hundreds of dead birds all over her porch and yard the next day. I think it was outlawed there.


A hog farmer in Colbert county also puts it out on his corn for hogs. I find it odd that its railroaded from NY North MS and AL then an out fit with 5 or 6 new Peterbilt trucks with new aluminum trailers, 2 new Deere loaders, 2 new Deere tractors and 24 foot spreaders all for free.

I ve seen it on tv being steamed then dried and then Pasturized and pelletized for fertilizer but the packages were clearly labeled lawn and ornamental use only. They had an ad on TV and one on the bags that said We re Number One Because We re Number Two.

 

[waxahachie]

This is a dangerous practice. I am a licensed, degreed sanitarian.
MOST but not all bacteria are destroyed in normal processes, but viruses such as Hepatitis, Polio, etc. WILL survive processing. In fact, it is not widely known, but even in an aerobic septic system, which when working properly has a high level of processing with chlorine post processing, these viruses will not only survive, but an migrate thru the soil to several hundred feet beyond the spray area.
Much of the recent Ecoli outbreaks can be directly traced back to sewage water being used on crops.

 

[funwithahoe]

this threads cracks me up because I live in an area where is super strict septic enforcement. Since I just built my house I had to comply with all the new laws which cost me a pretty penny --read thousands of dollars. I have to pay the septic enforcement officer $100 every 5 years to come and "inspect" (a topical inspection - not sure what that is but I don't need to be home when he does it - I think it may be a scam) my sand mound.

When I had my THREE tanks pumped out (before the gray water gets pumped to the sand mound) I asked the driver what they did with this toxic sludge he was pulling from my tanks and he said "Oh we just spray it on a field".

You gotta be ****ing me? I spent thousands to keep even a drop of this stuff from touching a piece of soil and you guys are going to blast it all over a field? - The driver responded "Yep. Don't make sense to me either".

The safer we get and the longer we live the more convinced we are that everything is going to kill us! By the way the animals around here produce 1000X the crap I do but I guess the poopy police haven't figured out how to tax them yet!

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Humanure is nothing new :laughing:

Ever read about the outhouse archeologists who specialize in excavating old privy pits? All sorts of interesting things fall in over time, and rarely does anyone want to fetch them out at the time. Also they were great places to dump incriminating objects.
Dave.

I've read a few accounts of diggers that excavate old outhouse sites. I guess a few make quite a bit of money from the stuff they find. If a guy could get past the thought, it would be fascinating. Any of the stories I have read are very aggressive in pointing out that by now the pits are just black dirt... No stink.

 

[montyhp]

This is a dangerous practice. I am a licensed, degreed sanitarian.
MOST but not all bacteria are destroyed in normal processes, but viruses such as Hepatitis, Polio, etc. WILL survive processing. In fact, it is not widely known, but even in an aerobic septic system, which when working properly has a high level of processing with chlorine post processing, these viruses will not only survive, but an migrate thru the soil to several hundred feet beyond the spray area.
Much of the recent Ecoli outbreaks can be directly traced back to sewage water being used on crops.

Waxahachie,

It would be interesting to know how long some of those nasty things survive in the environment. Anthrax is hundreds of years. Most things don't last very long. Any ideas?

Montyhp