
What are Biosolids
Nature’s recipe for healthy plants
Biosolids are a sustainable resource that contain beneficial nutrients and organic matter. Created from the wastewater treatment process, biosolids are the cleaned and treated product made from the solids you flush everyday!
Wastewater treatment processes are just big, engineered versions of what nature does all on its own. In streams and lakes natural aeration helps to purify the water while microorganisms break down solid animal and plant matter. At the treatment plant, the water is filtered and purified while the solids are transformed by good bacteria and microorganisms into a soil-like product called biosolids.
Everytime you flush, you contribute material to make biosolids. Both businesses and households, whether connected to sewer systems or on septic tanks, generate solids and wastewater that goes to a local treatment plant, where the water and the solids are separated and treated. Today, modern treatment processes and strict regulatory controls on discharges to sewers contribute to high quality, clean biosolids.
The Food Loop: Feeding the Soil that Feeds You

The Food Loop tells the biosolids story from the perspective of each of us and the role we play in biosolids production and management. Follow the interactive Food Loop journey here.