Sewage (Bio Solids) in Your Compost?
 

My local dirt place informed me today they Bio Solids are (processed sewage sludge) used in their topsoil with compost that they sell. Is this stuff safe? Does it work? I assume it in not organic? What about the rest of the stuff that goes down the toilet?

Should I panic and replace the many yards of soil?

The city of Omaha has a sewage composting facility that produces a product called Omagro. This stuff is correctly composted so it is safe to use on gardens, both vegetables and flowers. It can be purchased in bags or bulk. I have used this compost and it is very good and very inexpensive. For me it is not worth the 100 mile drive but if I were closer I would buy a couple of truckloads every year. Correctly done, biosolids are very good compost and completely organic.

Just be sure of the process and that it is composted correctly.

Compost with biosolids can contain heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, etc) which can not be composted out.The facility should be able to provide you with a certificate telling you if it has been approved for vegetables. they may even have lab tests available but you have to ask or find them online at their website if they have one.

I think that there are different classes of composts which tell you if they are veggie safe I think that they are class Class A and Class B. You can google it.

While I haven't researched bio solids, I do know of place nearby that sells bags of it. It isn't cheap either.

The Dillo Dirt Austin sells smells like a hog farm or a place a bunch of humans have been taking a dump.
They use composted bio solids and composted yard clippings and so on from peoples yards.
People dump all sorts of stuff down the drain and they do the same on their yards.
The same people that wont use the modern treated lumber on their raise beds will use this Dillo Dirt, that baffles me.

Probably nothing wrong with it but to me it is just creepy.:lol:

Worth

I wouldn't use it because of the heavy metals. I prefer to aged compost from herbivores.

Linda

Here's some info from Rodale

[url]http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/people-poop-good-plants[/url]

Any compost derived from bio solids is specifically not organic according to OMRI certification standards.

[QUOTE=whoose;590418]My local dirt place informed me today they Bio Solids are (processed sewage sludge) used in their topsoil with compost that they sell. Is this stuff safe? Does it work? [B]I assume it in not organic? [/B]What about the rest of the stuff that goes down the toilet?

Should I panic and replace the many yards of soil?[/QUOTE]

I never take the free compost when we drop off materials to our local composting facility. I garden organically and I have seen the landscapers dumping truckloads of grass clippings (almost definitely treated) into the pile. I only use untreated clippings in my compost made at home.

As I said in my first post, don't panic. Request information from the composting facility on the testing or certification of their compost and see what that says.

If you are not an organic gardener, then you are probably adding synthetic things anyway so maybe the compost with biosolids will not seem as bad as you first thought.

Yes I did read the link.
when the EPA and government restrictions was brought up it made me think about something.
But I dont want to step on any toes and it is only my opinion and to each his or her own.
Yes there are rules and it is against the law to dump things down the commode but people break these laws all of the time.
This was brought up in a conversation I had with another guy some time ago.
He said they are okay because you are not supposed to put that sort of thing down the commode it says so on the label.
Really!!!
Then just go ahead and take off across the intersection without looking to see if cars are stopped because it is against the law to run a red light.
Try that on a motorcycle and see how long you live.
Next EPA limits.
Lets say that the heavy metals in the bio solids are at 50% of the maximum.
You use it twice and now you are at 100% of the maximum.

A very childish alarmist way of putting it but if you keep using it, the stuff will build up in your soil and will soon become a super fund site.:lol:
If the stuff still smells like human crap in my opinion it isn't degraded enough.:no:

Worth

[QUOTE=brownrexx;590423]Compost with biosolids can contain heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, etc) which can not be composted out.The facility should be able to provide you with a certificate telling you if it has been approved for vegetables. they may even have lab tests available but you have to ask or find them online at their website if they have one.

I think that there are different classes of composts which tell you if they are veggie safe I think that they are class Class A and Class B. You can google it.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Labradors2;590427]I wouldn't use it because of the heavy metals. I prefer to aged compost from herbivores.

Linda[/QUOTE]

Heavy metals can't be "composted out", but...... it can be removed in a "green" manner. Look up phytoremediation or biosorption + heavy metals + algae. It's not commercial... yet..., there are a few places doing on smaller scale. It's been used in a few cases to clean up mining wastewater, accident spills, oil contamination of groundwater, etc...

They also use ferns to remove toxic waste.

Worth

I would use biosolids provided its my own waste and using bokashi composting. I don't trust other people poops.

[QUOTE=maxjohnson;590447]I would use biosolids provided its my own waste and using bokashi composting. I don't trust other people poops.[/QUOTE]

This is the same thing that guy on Youtube said that has the channel growing your greens, John what ever his last name is.
He is a vegetarian.


Vegan slash vegetarian.
I dont consider anyone a strict vegan if they hurt any kind of animals or use animals for work.
I dont consider anyone a vegetarian if they consume any part of any animal including milk and cheese.
I consider any flesh from any animal to be meat.

The reason I am saying this is because I have had so many people tell me they dont eat meat and are vegetarians while they are eating milk cheese chicken and fish.:?
In other words there is no such thing as a strict vegetarian you either are or you aren't.


Worth.

I would not grow my food in it. Would be fine for ornamentals, shrubs and grass I suppose.
KarenO

[QUOTE=Worth1;590460]This is the same thing that guy on Youtube said that has the channel growing your greens, John what ever his last name is.
He is a vegetarian.


Vegan slash vegetarian.
I dont consider anyone a strict vegan if they hurt any kind of animals or use animals for work.
I dont consider anyone a vegetarian if they consume any part of any animal including milk and cheese.
I consider any flesh from any animal to be meat.

The reason I am saying this is because I have had so many people tell me they dont eat meat and are vegetarians while they are eating milk cheese chicken and fish.:?
In other words there is no such thing as a strict vegetarian you either are or you aren't.


Worth.[/QUOTE]
In the PC world we live in there is a name for everything, so you have to use the correct word otherwise you are a racist. The correct terminology for what you described is lacto-ovo pescatarian.

I personally find it very profitable for drugs and supplement companies to promote veganism these day, it is profitable for sales of their products. You can deprive people of nutritious foods then sell them supplements to make more money. And it happened to be politically correct with the other on going trends right now, ie social justice, feminism, islam.

I'm not concerned with the meat contents in the poops, just all the other stuff that we flush down the drain. It's hard enough to get my family to not use those conventional dryer sheets that make horrible smell and give me a headache when I'm out in the garden.

[QUOTE=maxjohnson;590482]In the PC world we live in there is a name for everything, so you have to use the correct word otherwise you are a racist. The correct terminology for what you described is lacto-ovo pescatarian.

I personally find it very profitable for drugs and supplement companies to promote veganism these day, it is profitable for sales of their products. You can deprive people of nutritious foods then sell them supplements to make more money. And it happened to be politically correct with the other on going trends right now, ie social justice, feminism, islam.

I'm not concerned with the meat contents in the poops, just all the other stuff that we flush down the drain. It's hard enough to get my family to not use those conventional dryer sheets that make horrible smell and give me a headache when I'm out in the garden.[/QUOTE]


My neighbor lady uses those darn dryer sheets I cant stand them.
Then the is the over use of perfume I ran across a man in the store the other day that made my eyes water it was so bad.
(((lacto-ovo pescatarian.))):dizzy:

Worth

I rather like the !trends! (holy wow) of feminism and social justice myself. Interesting and possibly ironic that a thread about human sewage waste in compost has become a political topic. Walking a fine line here gentlemen as far as bending the rules of this site.
KO

[QUOTE=KarenO;590490]I rather like the !trends! (holy wow) of feminism and social justice myself. Interesting and possibly ironic that a thread about human sewage waste in compost has become a political topic. Walking a fine line here gentlemen as far as bending the rules of this site.
KO[/QUOTE]

I didn't say one darn thing about anything that was political or anything insulting to women or anyone else.
As far as I am concerned you can take that (((gentlemen))) off the post as that refers to plural which means more than one which I presume but I may be wrong refers to me.
The reason I even brought it up was many vegans and vegetarians wont use night soil from meat eaters in other words bio sludge.
Not only because of the meat consumed by the public but the chemicals that may or may not be in it.
One of which is the John guy on Youtube.
So yes I am on track.

Worth

I grabbed some of the free composted yard waste my municipality was giving away a few years ago to add to a very dense clay yard I ended up with after having my leech fields redone. The contractor did a horrible job of saving the topsoil but 10 years later the septic is working fine.

I tilled a few pickup truck loads of that black stuff into the yard and planted grass seeds. Parts of that 1/2 acre didn't grow for 2 years. Not even weeds. My guess is herbicides.

Herbicides won't compost out. Leeching them into the subsoil with 2 years worth of rains seems to have been my answer. Everything is growing now and I am mowing like crazy (why do I fertilize?).

Worth, on those dryer sheets..... I am good with the fragrance of the Bounce sheets. I bought a box of them when they were on sale at the local supermarket and threw the box under the front seat of the car as a long-term air freshener of sorts. 2 summers later, the sheets have welded themselves together and I have a brick of softener stink in a box.

You can not separate the sheets at all. I am not going to do that again. What must be in there that the heat inside a car ( has to be a bit less than the heat of a dryer) welds them together?

Just another life's lesson.

Ralph

[QUOTE=KarenO;590490]I rather like the !trends! (holy wow) of feminism and social justice myself. Interesting and possibly ironic that a thread about human sewage waste in compost has become a political topic. Walking a fine line here gentlemen as far as bending the rules of this site.
KO[/QUOTE]


Trends aside, politics and poop may be extremely closely related, no mtter the country, party or any other defining term.

Both can and frequently do stink to high heaven, but mostly, with poops, you can get something useful after enough time goes by!!!

Just lightening it up a bit. No offense to the real poop meant.

Kind of like water- when the drought was so incredibly back- less than 18% drinking water left in the lakes, people were all upset about recycling what was essentially pea water- after it had been through all sorts of processes. Hate to tell them, all water probably has been urine at some point in time.<grin>

Edit:

Must have been luckier around here, all those loads of compost we put in both the front and back, no problems ever. And we were getting 2 to 3 PU loads each time- raised both yard levels by about 4 to 6 inches still, after years of that. Sometimes, after getting to the middle parts of those huge heaps, smelled a bit ....funky, not poopy, just darn ripe!, but sure was good for the property.

Imp :lol: which bio solid to vote for? lmao

I don't use a bio solid for gardening in the way this thread is about. However, I do add broken up chunks of old bread to our compost bin. It isn't for the bread to compost though. I put the bread in there to watch the cardinals feed on it. They're beautiful birds who leave lots of fertilizer while eating the bread. A good exchange if you ask me.

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;590599]Imp :lol: which bio solid to vote for? lmao

I don't use a bio solid for gardening in the way this thread is about. However, I do add broken up chunks of old bread to our compost bin. It isn't for the bread to compost though. I put the bread in there to watch the cardinals feed on it. They're beautiful birds who leave lots of fertilizer while eating the bread. A good exchange if you ask me.[/QUOTE]


Love it- you get to admire the beauty and get the end results too! Smart fella!

Quite frankly... I would NEVER use it. Gross to high heaven and back. Do you know for a certainty that those who contributed their solids were healthy? not on medications for chronic conditions? Any of those meds will be excreted in the liquid or solid form... I don't use medications other than occasional over the counter pain relief and I have no need for it as a by product in my home grown food. I don't want to eat heart meds, blood pressure meds chemo meds etc... do you? This is a study about aquatics but using the bio solids would still be contaminated and contaminating our soil and food supply. IMHO...
[url]http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/drugs-in-the-water[/url]

[QUOTE=Worth1;590486]My neighbor lady uses those darn dryer sheets I cant stand them.
Then the is the over use of perfume I ran across a man in the store the other day that made my eyes water it was so bad.
(((lacto-ovo pescatarian.))):dizzy:

Worth[/QUOTE]
Worth, I am right there with you... gag! gag! gag!. last night my dear husband washed his hands with the soap downstairs and then put his hand on my shoulder... I made him go find a different bar of soap and rewash. Kirks Castile Soap is my best friend!

My uncle is about to retire from the local sewage treatment plant. He says the sludge is loaded with heavy metals and prescription drug residues, especially hormones from birth control pills.

He also said they get cherry tomatoes growing everywhere that the stuff has been spilled :)

[QUOTE][I]He also said they get [B]cherry tomatoes growing everywhere that the stuff has been spilled[/B] :)[/I][/QUOTE]There's a new, magic, market variety: [B]Poo Poppers™[/B].

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;590723]My uncle is about to retire from the local sewage treatment plant. He says the sludge is loaded with heavy metals and prescription drug residues, especially hormones from birth control pills.

He also said they get cherry tomatoes growing everywhere that the stuff has been spilled :)[/QUOTE]
Two of my friends worked at the sewer plant so I do know a little about what goes on at one.
You are right.
We had the keys to the gate and the place they spread out the left over sludge and plowed it in was where we went deer hunting.
There was no smell at all.
We could go from our house to this place in about 10 minutes be there for maybe one hour and get back to our house with 3 deer.
Cheap hunting all it cost was our permit and me hand loading rounds.
Maybe $40 between the both of us for freezers full of meat.
Worth

Assuming that there are heavy metals in the compost, is it an issue? I was under the impression that fruiting plants such as tomatoes don't take up the metals.

They don't, but I still think you don't want to be around the stuff. I wouldn't want to breathe the dust from it.