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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] farms as nutrient exporters 2

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: bmn@iglou.com
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] farms as nutrient exporters 2
  • Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 17:23:11 -0400

Wordgarden wrote:
On point 1. I agree that municipal sludge need not be nasty. If the waste
stream is properly
designed AND properly used in the way it is designed (i.e., people don't put
their sump oil down the drain). I guess that sewerage systems differ
according to locality, but where I am, the sewers carry household sewage,
and stormwater is handled differently. I think the current system would work
as designed, as far as soil nutrients go, if the sewage wasn't contaminated.

Unfortunatley, it is contaminated. If it were simple human wastes, I'd have no problem with applications. However, in most cities stormwater is combined...as is industrial waste. In fact, it was around the 50s, maybe even early 60s when combined sewers (waste and stormwater) were still being built in the US. But even in household waste streams, you're not simply dealing with human wastes, you're dealing with any and all manner of products being flushed or washed into drains. With that in mind, I doubt you'll ever see widespread proper design and/or use. I hate to be a pessimist, but up until a few months ago, I'd been working as a biologist in that field for 16 years.






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