Developing Sound Biosolids Management Practices

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote, “Build today, then strong and sure, with a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure. Shall tomorrow find its place.” With this inaugural publication of Water Practice™ focusing on biosolids management, we begin the process of building a strong foundation of peer-reviewed, applied studies to help ensure the future of biosolids management. We are all aware how tenuous biosolids management has become. Perceived health risks, odors and NIMBYism (i.e. Not in My Backyard) are just a few of the challenges those of us in the wastewater treatment profession must address. As an industry we have amassed thousands of research papers and applied studies that provide valuable information and opportunities for improvement in how biosolids are managed. Unfortunately, once presented at a conference, much of this valuable information has been lost to our own technological archives. This lost work represents progress on the operational issues and concerns raised by the public, as well as the documentation of our successes. The title of the Water Environment Federation’s 2006 Biosolids and Residuals specialty conference was “Bridging to the Future.” Our hope is that Water Practice will provide a repository for this valuable information so that our profession can, in fact, bridge to the future.

A journal is not merely an improved archiving system, however; a journal also provides direction for its field. In particular, Water Practice aspires to improve the interaction of practitioners and academically-based researchers, both of whom you will find amply represented in this issue. The diversity of authorship reflects an array of approaches to studying biosolids-related issues. In this first publication, papers may be grouped into two general categories: production-oriented studies and application/export-oriented studies. The articles themselves cover a wide range of topics, from three stage anaerobic digestion processes and the benefits of pretreatment, to incinerator permitting, assessment of radioactivity, and application of biosolids in hybrid poplar plantation.

In “Assessment of Radioactivity in Chicago Biosolids and its Transfer to Soil and Crops from Long Term Land Application,” Granato and colleagues provide useful information on the impacts of long-term biosolids application to soils and crops. The potential presence of radionuclides in biosolids is one of many concerns raised by biosolids opponents over the safety of land application. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (Cicero, Illinois) produces 170 000 dry Mg of biosolids annually and uses them to fertilize turf and crops. Since 1973, they have maintained a continuous corn fertility study with replicated plots. Samples collected during 2000 were used to evaluate the effect of long-term biosolids applications on the radioactivity concentration in soil, and the uptake of radioactivity into corn grain and stover. They found no significant differences in radionuclide concentrations in soil, corn grain, and stover among the treatment plots. Long-term annual applications of biosolids did not increase radioactive materials concentration in soil or increase uptake of radioactivity by corn in plots amended with biosolids versus fertilizers.

There is considerable misunderstanding by the public regarding the safety of biosolids. Many believe sewers are laden with industrial contaminants that find their way into biosolids without any controls in place to protect human health and the environment.
In “Improvements in Biosolids Quality Due to EPA’s Pretreatment and Biosolids Programs,” Laven and co-workers demonstrate the need to document and report findings. Since the early 1980s, publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) across the United States have achieved substantial reductions in the heavy metal content of influents and effluents along with significant improvements in the quality of biosolids generated. A major factor in these advancements was the development and promulgation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pretreatment regulations and the 40 CFR Part 503 biosolids¹ use and disposal regulations. While wastewater professionals understand the positive results of these regulations and the resulting impact on protecting human health and the environment, such chronicling is necessary to improve the body of knowledge on which policy decisions are based.

Studies such as these can provide the public with a higher level of confidence that will help us “secure” the future of biosolids management. It is my expectation that the technical information found in Water Practice will provide wastewater professionals with the “firm and ample base” from which to continue building sound biosolids management practices for generations to come.

Rhonda L. Bowen, Issue Editor
Hampton Roads Sanitation District