Emerald Dairy Experiments With Manure Treatment

The story below provides a overview of the water-capture treatment process being tested at Emerald Dairy, Inc. on County Road G in St. Croix County.

Here's a link to Emerald Dairy. They give tours, if you are interested in learning more.

"Emerald Dairy has been one of three pilot sites for an on-farm wastewater treatment plant that separates solids to an unprecedented level. Manure from the site's 1,600 cows feeds the system at 35 gallons per minute. At the end of the line, all suspended solids have been removed and 35 to 40 percent by weight has been filtered down into clear water, cleaner than treated municipal wastewater. Just as important, each of the other streams from his four-stage water treatment system can be allocated for a specific use, allowing him to target it to fields based on nutrient needs, hauling distance or irrigation system..."

"Nearly half the weight of dairy manure is water. It's bulky, it's heavy and it's inconvenient to handle. Rising fuel costs make hauling that water component prohibitively expensive, and environmental protection measures push the cost of lagoons toward the half-million-dollar mark or higher.

And for dairy producers like John Vrieze of Baldwin, Wis., the problem grows with every rain. “Colleagues of mine in drier areas of the country can use the dry air to largely evaporate some of these problems,” he notes. “But when you live in a humid climate, the amount of water in your manure actually increases over time.” With 31.5 inches of annual precip, Vrieze says, accumulation easily exceeds evaporation – to the tune of 3 million extra gallons of extra water in his lagoon each year..."

Read more of Wastewater Treatment Plants Dewater Dairy Manure at Conservation Technology Information Center.