Did You Know?

What you consume today becomes a resource for tomorrow

Recycling biosolids break down silos (or bowls) by finding ways to utilize a resource made everyday. What goes down toilets and drains doesn’t just get wasted.

New life for nutrients

Using biosolids instead of synthetic fertilizers is sustainable, uses less energy resources, helps build the soil, protects our environment, and still provides all the nutrients plants needs. All the micro and macro nutrients in biosolids give plants everything they need to grow big and healthy.

Saving natural resources

Over time, traditional agricultural practices have led to a loss in valuable organic matter essential for rich, fertile topsoil Healthy soil holds more water for thirsty plants. A 1% increase in organic matter means the soil can hold 25,000 more gallons of water per acre!

Renewable energy to boot

More than 1200 utilities across the country make biogas in the wastewater treatment process – recycling power back to the facility and their communities. Northwest Biosolids was part of the team that compiled this data that is now a part of the American Biogas Council’s interactive map

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Save our Soil

Conservation tillage (farming practice that preserves more surface residue than traditional tillage) research at Washington State University has found that biosolids leads to more heads of grain in dryland wheat. Crops grown in biosolids produced 3.6 bushels/acres higher grain yield than chemical fertilizer treatments. In addition, the increase in straw cover aids farmers in reaching the 30% residue cover minimum required to be considered and receive funding for “conservation tillage” acreage.

Wastewater generates renewable energy

Wastewater treatment plants don’t just clean water and create biosolids, they also generate energy used to power the treatment process by heating digesters, providing building heat and driving machinery. Some treatment plants also sell energy back to ‘the grid’ and have even become fully energy independent.

Never-ending nutrients

Your food contains nutrients that your body needs to grow, but our bodies don’t absorb all of the nutrients we eat. Why should we waste those extra nutrients!? Wastewater treatment takes all the organic, nutrient rich material that our bodies don’t need, and recycles it back to the land as a fertilizer and soil builder called biosolids. Biosolids provide all the nutrients plants need to grow. We use biosolids to grow healthy plants, we eat the plants, and the cycle starts all over again.