Poop goes gooood !

For some reason I'm super excited to write this bio blog, it might be because it's the last one in the course !! YEAHHH ! Anyways, for the very last blog entry the topic is biosolids. So what the hec are biosolids? Well biosolids are nutrient-rich organic materials obtained from wastewater treatment and is recycled and used beneficially, as for fertilizer. So basically your poop is used for agricultural fertilizer.

Pretty interesting, I mean after that poop goes bye-bye down your toilet, most of us don't even think of where it goes, I mean it goes down the drain, but then where to? Depending on where you live, different countries decompose waste through different systems. In Toronto, all the wastewater from our drains, toilets, showers and other travel through a 9,000 kilometre underground pipe system which lead into one of four wastewater treatment plants. At these plants, the wastewater is cleaned and solids, chemicals and other material are removed before being released into Lake Ontario. In the first stages of wastewater treatment solids in the sewage are set to settle, which are then later removed to enclosed tanks called "digesters". The remaining harmless waste becomes biosolids. If necessary, it may sometimes be treated with lime to increase the pH level to help eliminate odours.

In the table below it shows where biosolids in Toronto went, in 2008.

From the chart above, we see that 41% end up in landfill, 23% incineration at Highland Creek, 11% Land Application, 16% pelletization , 5% Alkaline Stabilization, and 4% Site Remediation. The real question here is why we aren't using our biosolids for better causes such as agricultural purposes?

I think that the potential stakeholders in this issue include the federal, provincial, territorial, municipal agencies, farmers, and locals. I believe that we all have a say on this issue, to state your personal opinion. Governments and agencies are the ones who place these issues into action, which also affect us, as consumers who buy products grown using biosolids.

Here is a short video that discusses some of the pros and cons of biosolids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHxoz-J3GIc

Now biosolids have both pros and cons, below are a list of a few:

Pros
-reduces the need for chemical fertilizers
-recycling material -fertilize fields for raising crop
-improves soil structure by increasing the soil's ability to absorb and store moisture
-reduce farmer's production cost
-replenishes organic matter that has been depleted over time
-provides jobs -promote growth of forestry -establish vegetation in mine sites by regenerating the soil layer

Cons
- health issues such as pathogens

-decreases property value

-odour

Looking at the pros and cons of this issue, I would say that the pros surely outrule the cons. I personally believe that this can be a realistic alternative to our current agricultural practises. I think it is a greener way to the future, and it doesn't seem to be way too expensive. Farmer's can greatly rescue their production cost by using this process, I mean who wouldn't want to save a couple of bucks?! This process is a very environmental friendly process also, since we are recycling material, instead of filling up landfill sites. I think it's just that we are influenced by the western view of human waste as an unsanitary and disgusting nuisance that is stopping us. I think that we are so used to our luxurious lifestyle that such things become an issue to us. I remeber when I went to India, and they don't have the same access as we do to waste disposal, and it surprised me, because of how used to I am with just flushing it down the toilet or throwing it into the garbage. I never really cared or knew where all the waste ended up. However in India, there are no garbage men who come to pick up your garbage, which in a way I found unsanitary, but didn't seem to bother the people there. It is just a matter of getting past the idea that human waste is disgusting. I think that this process can be a very realistic alternative for us.

SOURCES

http://www.toronto.ca/water/biosolids/index.htm

http://www.mass.gov/dep/wastewater/faqs02.htm#created

http://www.cwwa.ca/faqbiosolids_e.asp

http://www.cwwa.ca/cbp-pcb/pdf%20files/EPPC%20Proposal1.pdf