Geology, geography and global energy

Scientific and Technical Journal

Potential vermicultural applications: economic processing and household drainage

2013. №1, pp. 152-161

Sergeeva Anastasiya S. - Post-graduate student, Volgograd State Socio-Pedagogical University, 27 Lenin ave, Volgograd, Russian Federation, 400005, nastia80_21@mail.ru

Burul Tatyana N. - C.Sc. In Geography, Assistant Professor, Volgograd State Socio-Pedagogical University, 27 Lenin ave, Volgograd, Russian Federation, 400005, busmit@rambler.ru

The article presents data on Kaustic Joint Stock Company’s (JSC) experimental evaluation of vermiculture (worm culture) for processing crude deposits of raw sewage sludge at the company’s Volgograd chemical plant. It adds that the evaluation applied a biological method based on a red, California-grown worm for processing the facility’s sewage drainage. At this stage, the document re-focused its attention on urban waste water, which is reportedly discharged without adequate treatment into rivers and streams. This activity, it notes, adversely affects the ecological balance of environmental water bodies. Furthermore, the high content of organic matter – such as microorganisms containing pathogens – entering the ponds and streams promotes eutrophication pollution. The latter, the critique states, is likely to reduce the level of dissolved oxygen in the water bodies, causing aquatic oppression and the consequent release of hydrogen sulfide. As a mitigating measure, the commentary recommends that this type of waste water be cleaned; these approaches are based on the self-cleaning capacity of soils (which use filtration for field irrigation). Moreover, since the high water loads have no time to evaporate, the filtration sites often become plagued by unsanitary conditions. The paper indicates that it is becoming common practice to fill irrigation systems with waste water, which is isolated from and cannot contaminate the subsurface water supplies. The major risk inherent in this method, however, is the potential of contaminating the ground water with salinity that might affect the plant life in the effluent. Subsequently, the commentary indicates that biological approaches (both known and salvage types) should be used to reduce the quantity of waste-related pollutants entering the water and soil base. The attractiveness of these methods, the blueprint states, is not their financial basis, rather the significant environmental and economic benefits likely to accrue. The coping-technology basis, it states, is one relying on California-grown, red worm-conducted vermiculture. The latter would implement vermicompost (worm compost) to rapidly transform organic wastes into environmentally friendly organic and mineral fertilizers.

Key words: sewage,biological cleaning method,bio-humus,vermiculture,vermicompost

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