[Terrapreta] sewage sludge charcoal

[Philip Small]

Jim:

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 8:26 AM, Jim Joyner <jimstoy at dtccom.net> wrote:

> I know human waste has carbon in it, but would char made from this be the
> same as char made from woody material. I mean, is all char equal?

No. Woody is best from several perspectives.

> It would seem that all TP had been made with char from wood, right?

I am thinking that household waste was included in the original TP feed
stock

> Obviously eliminating toxicity from waste is a good idea but might never
> happen.

Not all toxic substance are equal.

> Given whatever level of toxicity, would it not be better to combined in
> char?

Depends on specifics.

> Where does sludge go that doesn't get put on fields?

Ocean dumping is cheapest (Vancouver BC) and still quite popular.
Landfilling is next, assuming community has abundant capacity. Material that
can't be land applied is incinerated and the ash landfilled. Composting is
popular but can be problematic.

Least-industrial sludge is household septage. I work with that also.  It is
not as polished biologically. My preference is to see septage run through a
treatment plant to get the putrescible index (my made up term)  of the
material down to a more neighborly level, but the BOD load can put a
significant burden on plant capacity.  Fees can reflect this, thus a very
expensive alternative for the septage hauler. Land app of septage after
adding hydrated lime is a normal practice in many communities.

-Phil
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