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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #236342
Title: New systems for treatment of manure from confined animal production

Author
item Vanotti, Matias
item Szogi, Ariel

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2009
Publication Date: 3/11/2009
Citation: Vanotti, M.B., Szogi, A.A. 2009. New systems for treatment of manure from confined animal production. In: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Management of Animal Residuals, March 11-13, 2009, Florianopolis, Brazil. p. 45-50.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: New swine waste management systems developed in North Carolina to replace the anaerobic lagoons need to meet the strict performance standards of an environmentally superior technology (EST). These technologies must be able to substantially remove nutrients, heavy metals, emissions of ammonia, odors, and pathogens, while remaining simple to operate and affordable. Scientists at ARS Florence Center and industry cooperators completed design and demonstration of a second generation treatment system for swine waste that can achieve high treatment performance of an Environmentally Superior Technology, yet it is much more economical than earlier versions. The system combines solid-liquid separation, biological ammonia treatment and phosphorus removal, and it produces a deodorized and disinfected liquid effluent. The second generation system was installed full-scale in a 5,600-head finishing swine operation and demonstrated for one year under steady-state conditions. Results show the effects of improved manure management (new technology vs. traditional lagoon technology) on water quality and its beneficial effect on animal performance in seven swine production buildings during one year evaluation. The treatment system reduced 97.1% of total suspended solids concentration, 99.4% of BOD, 95.7% of TKN, 96.6% of ammonia, 92.9% of total phosphorus, 99.2% of copper, 98.9% of zinc, 99.9% of odor compounds, and 99.99% of pathogen indicators. The recycle of cleaner, sanitized water to refill barn pits enhanced animal health and productivity: The farmer sold 32,900 kg more meat (a 5.6% increase) per growing cycle using the new system compared to the previous lagoon management. Greenhouse gas emissions (CH4 and N2O) were substantially reduced (>96.9%). These results overall show that cleaner alternative technologies can have significant and positive impacts on livestock production and the environment. These findings showed that two or more simple processes can be combined into a practical system to achieve all EST performance standards and that significant cost reductions can be achieved by on-farm implementation, testing, and continued engineering improvements.