Project Goals/Objectives: Evaluate up to six technologies for decreasing nonpoint source pollution and improving surface water quality, through on-site demonstrations of reduction of total and soluble phosphorus in dairy effluent applied to waste application fields.
Project Location: North Bosque River, Segments 1226 and 1255
Project Costs: Federal ($227,793); Non-Federal Match ($173,336); Total Project ($401,129)
Project Participant(s): TSSWCB, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas AgriLife Extension, and Texas AgriLife Research
The TSSWCB, Texas AgriLife Extension, and Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) are collaborating to demonstrate and evaluate five technologies that will attempt to remove phosphorus from dairy lagoon effluent before it is applied to waste application fields. Geotube® and Electrocoagulation Technologies chosen for the first year of demonstrations have completed testing and results from these studies have been presented in comprehensive reports and fact sheets. Both technologies proved very effective for removing phosphorus from the dairy lagoon effluent. A demonstration that evaluates the effects of incorporating residual material contained within a Geotube® on sod and soil profiles is also being planned for implementation in 2007. It will show if Geotube® residual material will have beneficial or negative impacts on sod and soil properties.
Technologies chosen to be demonstrated during the second year of the project were EnviroLink's L4DB microbial technology and Envirotech's BauxsolTM technology. The EnviroLink demonstration is being conducted at the Sherwyn Wood dairy in the Bosque River watershed. Sampling began in June 2006 and will conclude in June of 2007 with the final report and fact sheet being produced shortly thereafter. Envirotech was slated to implement their demonstration in October 2006, but preliminary tests showed that treatment of an entire lagoon would be highly uneconomical. Due to these costs, Envirotech decided not to participate in the project.
One technology has already been chosen for year three demonstrations and one other technology will be selected to participate in the project in early December 2006. A demonstration of NBT-100 Lactobacillus bacteria will be demonstrated at Wild West Dairies in the Bosque River watershed by Natural Biotechnology. This demonstration is scheduled to be implemented in early 2007 and conclude during summer 2007. Materials reporting the results of these projects will be produced by the end of the project in 2008 and will be available along with all other project documents on the project website.
Project Workplan: 03-10
Quality Assurance Project Plan: 03-10
Final Report: 03-10
Project Publications: Technologies for Reducing Nutrients in Dairy Effluent