US Environmental Resource and Recovery Group LLC

Problem CAFO's produce large quantities of N & P rich manure that has historically been applied to agricultural land. The sheer amount of nutrients produced often exceeds the ability of the land and crops to absorb them. As a result of increased concern for surface water degradation, on land application of swine manure is ever-increasingly regulated. Consequently, Murphy Brown LLC pursued alternative technologies to regulate P levels in their waste water lagoons.

Solution USERRG developed an innovative treatment system that centers on the suspension and activation of the clay based material (WP-1™) in a mixing tank, followed by direct broadcasting onto the lagoon surface. A single treatment is typically all that is required to dramatically reduce P concentrations. As WP-1™ falls out of suspension it adsorbs P tightly as part of the crystalline structure of the clay. Ultimately, the P is permanently immobilized and consolidated as part of a highly stable, fine layer of sediment on the lagoon bottom.

Results Within 24 hrs, P & N concentrations in all 4 lagoons decreased dramatically and continued to decline over the next 28 days (Figures 1 & 2). Three months after treatment, lagoon concentrations remained low, in spite of continuous external N and P inputs. Murphy Brown LLC has now adopted a simpler N based farm fertilizer plan. Additionally, USERRG treatments now allow for the, previously unattainable, unrestricted on land application of low P lagoon water.