Cow Manure to Clean Water and Fertilizer

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Cow Manure to Clean Water and Fertilizer

The Sedro-Woolley company plans to build an experimental dairy processor on a farm that will turn cow manure into clean water while producing fertilizer as a byproduct. 

0oAGQK3.jpg“This could be quite a holy grail for dairy technology,” said Jeremy Visser.

The concept behind the idea is similar to the company’s Omniprocessor, a machine designed to help impoverished countries by turning sewage into clean drinking water.

This new dairy processor, however, will use different technology, said Janicki Bioenergy’s Jeff Graf. 

The most noticeable difference is that the dairy processor will produce solid and liquid fertilizer as byproducts, rather than the ash produced by the Omniprocessor.

Graf said the water produced would likely be suitable for animals to drink, but not for humans. It could be used in different ways, such as for irrigation or for the cows to drink.

0XzX1QI.jpgThe fertilizer, he said, could be used by the farmer or sold.

“It could be an organic product that is sold to other farmers as a potential way of generating revenue,” Graf said.

Among those partnering with Janicki Bioenergy to put the processor on Visser’s farm are the Dairy Farmers of Washington, the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians and the Snohomish Conservation District.

The goals of the partners include producing clean water to benefit the environment and reducing the farm’s carbon footprint.

Each processor would cost $500,000 to $750,000, Graf said. The company is looking at ways to make it easier for farmers to buy the processors.

“We are trying to put together ways for farmers to be able to use Department of Agriculture funding sources to buy equipment like this for their farms,” he said. “There is a lot of good work being done at the federal, state and local levels.” 

Source: goskagit

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