Composting Helps Denver Manage Sludge

isposal of wastewater sludge has D long been a problem in wastewater treatment. In the past decade, however, conventional sludge disposal methods, such as incineration, Ocean dumping and landfilling, have come under increasingly tighi regulatory control. These regulatory cmtrols, coupled with increased energy costs and environmental concerns, have sparked renewed interest in wastewater sludge composting. In 1972, the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture began investigating wastewater sludge composting at Beltsville, Md. The findings of this research are published in the Beltsville Aerated-Pile Method of composting.' composting has been widely used throughout the U.S. While refinements have been made to this process, the genmajor modifications to the conventional meihods of composting. One of those modifications and the background for its development is described in this article. Richard D. Kuchenrither and Douglas G. Smith Black & Veatch, Denver, Cdo.