Biosolids
Very important poop...
Everybody poops; it’s as simple as that. Girls count too. It’s a need for humans to excrete waste. We take in food and that food must end up somewhere. Usually it’s in our toilets and I use “usually” liberally. Once we flush (or not, for those who forget to) we never really think about our waste; where it goes, what happens to it. Now people have found a way to utilize it and put it to use. I mean, it’s not like we have any sentimental attachment to it once we release. When we do our business and flush, our tiny ( or large) works of art float down the sewage and into treatment facilities. Back then we did nothing to them. Now we have something called biosolids. Biosolids are the untapped potential of our sewage. The treatment facilities treat the sewage and turn it into fertilizer for the agricultural business. Biosolids are rich in nutrients and are wonderful for the environment. They are good poop.
Environmental poop
In elementary we learned about the “Three R’s” for recycling; reuse, reduce, and recycle. Biosolids are the first and last of the three. Let’s face it; even though they came out of us, we will never use them again, so why not put it to good use instead of just letting it go to sewage? Instead of synthesising chemicals to form fertilizers for plants, which I learned due to my plant project suck pretty bad, why not use a more organic choice. Organic things seem to be the trend these days anyways. I think it’s a good idea to learn to reuse things that we won’t end up using otherwise. While the smell may be a problem to people, it is actually good for the plants. Most of the odour emitted by the biosolids is ammonia and nitrogen which in fact help plants grow. The only downside may be the view of biosolids by the world.
Bad poop
When we think of poop the first thing that pops into mind is “eww”, well for most atleast. When we think about the process, I can understand why people may be disgusted by it. Spreading organic fertilizer made from sewage containing human feces all over our vegetables to make them grow. It may make some lose their appetites. We also have to consider that human feces do have a lot of the unwanted bad things from our food. This includes the excess of the metals in our body like zinc and iron. These metals are going into the plants which can harm it. There are downsides but the tests conducted say that it is nothing to worry about and that there will be no major harm done to humans.
Wrapping this poop up
Biosolids are a new funky smelling wave of the future. It is an eco friendly was to utilize waste. It also works more efficiently than chemical fertilizers due to the fact of it being less water soluble. The nutrients stay with the plants and help them grow. It is also an economically friendly was to spread a field with "black gold". Biosolids may not smell the best, but who cares. People make it sound like they don’t wash their vegetables before eating it. Maybe we can feel sympathy for our farmers. That or toss them a pair of ear plugs. For their nose though...
http://www.cwwa.ca/faqbiosolids_e.asp
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094821/
http://www.toronto.ca/wes/techservices/involved/wws/biosolids/index.htm
http://rlv.zcache.com/cute_poo_photo_sculpture_photosculpture-p153185792527568965qdjh_400.jpg
