CA+-+Who+Cares+-+Presentation

Swine Waste Presentation

"This presentation gives you a brief overview concerning the growing swine waste problem. Current methods used to manage this waste create an environment that allows for pollution of our waterways. There is new technology coming out every day to address this concern, including new biogas digesters that not only turn water into usable fertilizer, but also a fuel source."

Over that past few years, demand for pig by-products has grown drastically. With this growth has also come an increase in swine wastes, which if left untreated, will severely pollute the air we breathe, water we drink, and crops we consume. In the United States along, swine farms produce 500 million tons of manure annually, which is over three times that of human waste. One farm in Utah was even found to produce more waste than the entire city of Los Angeles.

Currently, most farms will either spread the pig manure in an empty field or in a manure lagoon. Since this manure is high in phosphorus and nitrogen, it can’t be used directly as fertilizer. This means that the fields covered in pig manure cannot be used to grow crops. Another concern with leaving manure on the fields is the potential for runoff into rivers, streams, and drinking water supplies. The manure lagoons are not entirely safe either. They allow for large releases of methane into the atmosphere and are susceptible to rupturing during heavy rains.

Pollution caused by runoff into drinking supplies carries major health concerns with it. More than 60 rivers and streams have been affected by runoff from farms, of which, the majority was animal wastes. These polluted waterways become enriched with nutrients that breed toxic algae and microbes that can harm the aquatic ecosystem. The Gulf of Mexico now contains a Dead Zone, approximately 7000 square miles in size, which has been linked to the nutrients found in animal waste runoff. In Canada, polluted drinking water has killed three people and left over 100 sick. Manure is also a large carrier for diseases, such as //Salmonella// and //Cryptosporidium//. In Vietnam, swine manure has been linked to many outbreaks of //E. coli//, roundworm, and trematode.

Many solutions though have been suggested for this growing issue. One of the simplest solutions has been to break the manure down into usable fertilizer. The classis anaerobic digester is used across the globe and is still a viable to compost the swine manure. It allows the manure to break down and be treated, in both solid and liquid forms, so that it can be used to fertilize a field or be an additive to fertilizer. A newer method, known as the Super Soil System, has more steps, but better results. This new system removes and treats the solid wastes so that they can be used as fertilizer additives while the remaining liquid gets treated. Once the nitrogen and phosphorus are removed, the remaining calcium phosphate gets used as a fertilizer as well. Any remaining liquid from the process is recycled back and used to wash swine wastes back into the system.

Another solution to this problem of excess swine manure is to convert it into biogas. This process allows farms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate renewable energy credits and carbon offsets, and eliminate pollutants. In North Caroline, Loyd Ray Farms has been working closely with Duke University on implementing this new system on his farm. This system starts with traditional anaerobic digestions of the manure with a twist. The methane generated by this process gets sent to a microturbine where it is turned into electricity to power the system and the farm. Any excess methane is then burned off at night. The remaining liquid from the process is then cleaned and used to irrigate crops or can be recycled back into the system to clean swine barns. While these biogas systems are always improving, some countries do not always see the benefit. Vietnam recently introduced this system into many pig farms with the goal of reducing the smell and the flies that surrounding the pig manure digesting out in the fields. While this goal was achieved, it was discovered that the pollutants and contaminants from the manure were still lingering around after digestion.

If left alone, the growing concern of pollution from animal wastes will eventually affect everyone in some way. Waterways will become contaminated, leaving many sources of drinking water unusable and aquatic ecosystems destroyed. Although the concern is high, there is hope for the processes that are currently being developed to combat this problem. Yet, unless these new techniques are spread to all countries that raise livestock, the water and air ways will continue to be at risk.

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“Farm Animal Waste: An Environmental Hazard!” //The Environmental Blog//. Accessed February 5, 2014. http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2008/05/farm-animal-waste-an-environmental-hazard/.

"Farm Pollution & Waste." //The University of Reading//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. .

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