Sludge Watch ==> Milwaukee Press - has no idea about sewage sludge

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The wastewater industry continues to lie to reporters and misrepresent the 
contents of sewage sludge ('biosolids').  This story in the Milwaukee press 
is particularly awful.

By the way...

Sludgewatch Word of the Day:  NEMATODE

The nematodes or roundworms (Phylum Nematoda from Greek íῆìá (nema): 
"thread" + -þäç -ode "like") are one of the most common phyla of animals, 
with over 20,000 different described species (over 15,000 are parasitic). 
They are ubiquitous in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments, 
where they often outnumber other animals in both individual and species 
counts, and are found in locations as diverse as Antarctica and oceanic 
trenches. Further, there are a great many parasitic forms, including 
pathogens in most plants and animals, humans included.





The  Journal Sentinel August 24 article's definition of  sewage sludge:

" Dried sludge does not contain feces or other waste[!]. The sludge is
billions of microbes that have been removed from the sewage treatment
process each day after digesting organic waste"

The Side Bar of the article contains the following information:

"What is Sewage Sludge?"

Billions of bacteria and other microbes--rotifers, protozoans and
nematodes--work each day in large open-air basins at the Jones Island
wastewater treatment plant.  They digest organic waste that had been
flushed into sewers throughout the MMSD service area of 28
municipalities. "We want a large, diverse population of microbes, some
young, some old to digest sewage, said Greg Misun, operations supervisor
for United Water, the private company that operates the plant.
Each day, 20 to 25% of the microbes , about 100 tons worth--are removed
from the process to make space for others constantly being created by
the rapidly growing populations of microscopic organisms.  After the
microbes are taken out of the treatment process, a polymer chemical is
added to the thick mass so they clump together before being pumped into
the drying and dewatering building. They are heated to 185 degrees to
kill pathogens.  This dried sludge can be processed to form the pellets
familiar to Miloganite users."