Cold Can't Stop Alaska Sewage Composting (People can't get enough of it)

Environmental News Network & AP ^ | August 14, 2006 | Dan Joling

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

waste from 87,000 residents into a product so highly desired they can't make enough to satisfy requests

I know there are websites out there like this, but a whole town in Alaska?

[alaskamomma]

hehe

[syriacus]

Aren't they contributing to global warming?

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

In theory yes, but only by being alive and having natural body functions. The waste would decompose anyway. Realistically, by collecting it in one place, it would be that much easier to capture the methane, which would then constitute a carbon-neutral process. The amounts we are talking about, however are probably too small to be economical.

Although you question prompts me to ask alaskamomma how far north she is and how much things have warmed up for her over the past decade or so?

[edpc]

Cooperative extension officials recommend it for growing vegetables

They grow nicely, but taste sh**ty.

[Hardastarboard]

I know I always think of cadmium pollution when I hear "human sludge". Can anyone enlighten me as to how heavy metals get into human waste in sufficient quantities to be dangerous?

[syriacus]

In theory yes, but only by being alive and having natural body functions. The waste would decompose anyway.

Wouldn't a lot of it remain "un"-decomposed or take longer to decompose if it were frozen for good parts of the year or abandoned somewhere in less "congenial" conditions?

The project sounds great, by the way.

[03A3]

It's caused by industry dumping as opposed to humans consuming. Here in Indpls we have oxygen furnaces to burn off the cake because of the heavy metals.

[spall]

Can anyone enlighten me as to how heavy metals get into human waste in sufficient quantities to be dangerous?

Probably from the 70s and 80s generations listening to too much of it......

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

Wouldn't a lot of it remain "un"-decomposed or take longer to decompose if it were frozen for good parts of the year or abandoned somewhere in less "congenial" conditions?

Sorry, but I am just not an expert on this type of $hit.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

Reminds me of when the East Germans in the 70s were trying to make $hit into chocolate.

They got the color down, but were still working on the taste.

[alaskamomma]

I'm eighty miles south of Fairbanks, and right now we're sitting at 50 degrees. Not much has changed in temperature ,as far as I can tell, and I've lived here for about 15 yrs...

I just found the article funny...
It's always good in my book, to use our waste if we can feasible do that..
The article just struck my funny bone...
I was thinking, I didn't realize we had so much *stuff* up here in Fairbanks, Alaska

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

I am in Northern Germany and it is about 50 degrees here too. It shouldn't be though.

[syriacus]

Sorry, but I am just not an expert on this type of $hit.

LOL

[edpc]

That East German chocolate could be a perfect dessert for this main course:

*********************************************************** From: The Boston Globe Oct. 7, 1993

Japanese cuisine is famous for its freshness, subtlety in taste and esthetic presentation.

Sushi, tempura, sukiyaki, tofu...what else floats to the fore of the imagination when considering the delicacies of this Oriental fare? How about a suasage made from sewage?

A laboratory in western Japan has devised a way to process sewage into an edible high-protein enriched meat substitute. The laboratory at the Environmental Assessment Center in Okayama was asked by the city sewage department to find an end-use for recycled sewage, said Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a member of the team that developed the material.

"The sewage department wants to show citizens that sewage isn't really such a dangerous and dirty thing, that it can be recycled into something useful," Ikeda said.

Making a sewage burger is easy. The protein is drawn out from the solids in the sewage, then mixed with soybean protein and food additives. The finishing touch is a standby in every Japanese kitchen - steak sauce for flavor.

Voila! A substance resembling beef in looks and texture and some what in taste and smell is produced.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

Thanks. Won't be eating lunch today now.

[Big Giant Head]

informative, yet somehow humerous ping

[wolfcreek]

We make compost at our home. Not wastewater but, veggies, coffee grounds, eggshells etc. The company who makes our compost tumbler (basically a barrel with a crank) recommends the outside temp be at least 50 degrees for 8 hours per day to ensure proper composting. In Texas, We can do this much of the year as long as there's a source of green living matter (usually grass) to start the process.

[when the time is right]

Why don't they take this a step further and run some pipes through there and heat some homes?

[Carry_Okie]

Rich in nutrients, raw sludge also can be filled with dangerous pathogens or heavy metals that must be addressed before it can be applied to fields, burned, or even buried in a landfill.

The issue of metals has been the killer for many a sludge composting project. Nothing is said in this article of how it was addressed.