Posted on 04/05/2014 6:59:41 PM PDT by markomalley
This is a topic that one must approach delicately so as not to offend the reader’s sensibilities, but since it is a matter of importance for which you may receive a bill for some portion of $470 million, we start out with an analogy.
You need energy, so you eat. Through the miracle of digestion, your body sorts what you have eaten, say, a pastrami on rye with a glob of coleslaw and a dill pickle, and plucks out the nutrients — proteins, carbohydrates and sugars it needs to generate power. Then it jettisons the rest.
What your body jettisons disappears forever, carried along in a huge network of sewers to a plant in the southeastern corner of Washington.
Just like you, that plant needs energy. Through a miracle called thermal hydrolysis, it soon will be able to sort through what you have jettisoned and use it to generate electricity.
Yes, from poop will come power — 13 megawatts of it. Enough electricity to light about 10,500 homes.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
well isn’t that trendy of them
If Congress could krap enough energy to supply the whole US, their approval rating might go up a few notches.
There are so many “poo-to-power” options out there, it amazes me how few municipalities use them.
Elimanure is another one, developed for dairy farms, but would work with municipal sewage.
In DC they act like they have been drinking sewage for years.
One wonders just what usage of “fine” is being applied here in “fine fertilizers?”
Nowhere in the article does it mention the two big problems with using the end product as fertilizer: heavy metal contamination, and pharmaceutical contamination.
DC being a big Rat stronghold (both the mammals and the politicos), I expect nothing will be said about this.
or biohazards like aids. dc has a massive active gay population.
One of the problems with poop as fertilizer is the presence of heavy metals. This is a serious issue in industrial cities Wash DC because it has no heavy industry has poop very low in heavy metals and so makes good fertilizer
There was a project called Dano about 25 years ago set up in DC to convert sewage to fertilizer. It was abandoned after local contractors sabotaged it as a threat to their business
It may be trendy, but if it makes economic sense it is a good move.
If it doesn’t pay for itself in short order it is probably more crony envirocrapitalism typical of this administration.
Interesting idea. Will see how this works.
My city, Edmonton, does this with its sewage and it doesn’t have a high net cost when it’s all sorted out.
” Wash DC because it has no heavy industry has poop very low in heavy metals and so makes good fertilizer”
A pretty high percentage of the DC locals I’ve spoken with appear to have eaten large amounts of lead paint chips in their youth.
Just sayin’...
Milorganite is the trademark of a biosolids fertilizer produced by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The District captures wastewater from the Milwaukee metropolitan area, including local industries.
No need to protect our sensitivities. We all drink water that has passed through one set of kidneys at some point in time.
1. As an older city Wash, D.C. had many homes/apartments that were coated with lead based paint. The paint lasted very well but of course the side effects of breathing paint dust or eating paint chips is well known. Renovators painted over the old paint rather than remove it.
2. I used to finance renovation loans in D.C. literally by the hundreds. One thing always happened, which is the basement was dug out, usually to put a rental unit down there. As part of that process the water lead to the house was replaced, running to the main which is usually in the center of the street. All of the leads from the house to the main were made of LEAD piping.
May very well answer your point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.