ISHS Acta Horticulturae 172: Composts as Horticultural Substrates
QUALITY-TESTING OF WASTE SEWAGE-SLUDGE COMPOSTS |
| Author: | D. I. W. Bidlingmaier |
| Abstract:
A central problem of waste-management is the reduction of volume. In composting this is achieved on the one hand by the partial conversion of organic substances into a gaseous phase; on the other hand, the reduction of the final amount of depositable material should be achieved by the use of compost in various areas of crop-growing. The decisive question which has to be asked before the construction of any waste-compost plant is accordingly related to the disposal of compost. Although composting belongs to one of the oldest waste-disposal methods, there have been no reliable studies regarding disposal up to the present time. The various difficulties in this sector are in part traceable to the inhomogeneity of the product-fluctuations of the basic material, the different concepts of quality of treatment-plant builders, operators and compost-users and as well to the great number of competitive products. The setting up of criteria regarding quality therefore represents one decisive step forward in the solving of the disposal problem. Quality norms can be set up from various standpoints. For the one buyer the norm may be visual, for another it may be structure and for a third person it may depend on the tolerance of the material with respect to certain plants. Undertaking a classification of methods is difficult. An effort will be made in the following to separate the criteria which characterize the grade of decomposition and its external nature. The following report will be limited to the description of | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
