Venturi Aeration, Inc.

Field Testing: Quellz Enzymes: Hog Farm Lagoon Treatment (Versailles, Ohio July - October 2000)

A hog farm in Versailles, OH has an 18,000,000-gallon lagoon that accepts the hog waste material and washdown water from various breeding barns that surround the single central lagoon. The hog waste material accumulates in the pits under slatted floors in the hog barns and is predominately animal urine and fecal materials with some wash water. This material has high concentrations of ammonia and organic solids that produce high levels of hydrogen sulfide. Periodically, the barn is cleaned and the residual sludge material in the pit is flushed into the central lagoon.

The enzymatic product Quellz® was added to the lagoon at a ratio of 1 gallon to 100,000 gallons of lagoon contents to determine its efficacy. The purpose of the full-scale field test was to evaluate the ability of Quellz® enzyme to 1. Abate ammonia (NH₃) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) odors, 2. Aid in water clarification, 3.Enhance decomposition of sludge, and 4. To reduce the volume of sludge in the lagoon. The lagoon has a depth of 21 ft.

Prior to adding the Quellz® enzymes to the lagoon several measurements where taken on July 5, 2000 to determine sludge levels and to make observations on water clarity. A survey team measured the depth of the sludge in the lagoon and developed a base profile:

Depth 0’ Surface ____________

5’ murky colored water

10’ dark colored water and thin viscous material

15’ sludge solids 20’ thick sludge solids

21’ bottom thick sludge solids

The sludge on the bottom of the lagoon was from the 21’ level up to the 15’-5″ level, and between 15’-5″ to 10’ the water was already becoming viscous.

Quellz® was added to the lagoon, and several qualitative observations were made. These initial tests were made without supplemental aeration, all activity for this initial testing was anaerobic, and there was no mechanical mixing.

On the morning of July 9th (after 4 days) the level of odors had significantly been reduced, but remained recognizable at lower threshold levels as predominately amine-type odors. No analytical instruments were used, just a three member odor panel.

On the morning of July 12 the level of odors off the lagoon were de minimus or unrecognizable.

By July 31 the odors remained abated and the lagoon had begun to experience “clarification” down to the 6’ level. The Quellz®, which had been added at one specific point in the lagoon, had migrated across the entire lagoon during the 3.5 weeks.

Depth 0’ Surface ____________

5’ clear liquid

10’ clear liquid

15’ murky colored water

19’ thin sludge solids at 19’ to 21’

20’ thin sludge solids

21’ bottom thin sludge solids

Sludge levels had been reduced 3’-5″ and changed in characteristic from thick solids difficult to stir to think sludge that was stirable with a long pole. Clarification has occurred down to the 10’ depth level.

The end use of this lagoon water is to spray irrigate it over the following crops: corn, soybean, and cotton. Nutrients were measured and TKN levels had minimal change.

A second test occurred concurrently in two hog barns. A dose of Quellz® was added directly into the 8’ x 8’ x 40’ pits under the slatted floor of the hog barn. The product was allowed to remain in the pit for four weeks before the pit’s contents were flushed into the central lagoon. Odors began to abate in four (4) days, and the sludge in the bottom of the pit began to liquefy. Typically, flushing the barn requires both labor and lots of wash-down water. However, in this case, the sludge in the pit flowed freely without clogging the pump or plugging the interconnecting pipes to the lagoon.

Because of the observed ability of Quellz® abate odors, the hog farmer asked to spray some of the material over the contents of his “dead box.” A one gallon concentrate was atomized and sprayed over the carcasses in the dead box. The odor abated in one hour and also reduced the number of flies in the dead box.

While sludge reduction and denitrification are traditionally an anaerobic process,a dual zone lagoon can be established to address both aerobic and anaerobic issues. In other studies, the Quellz® enzymes have been documented to significantly increase the number of colony forming units (CFU) to aid in digestion of organic materials, reduce BOD and control odors.

However, it does this 18 times more effectively with a venturi aerator component that is used to continually strip carbon dioxide (CO2) a byproduct of microbial digestive processes which naturally buffers pH for enhanced microbial digestion, and to provide high levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) for enhanced microbial colony propagation.

Other qualitative studies on Quellz® are taking place, e.g. adding it to fresh water shrimp farming for lagoon clarification, organics reduction, ammonia-nitrogen reduction and pH buffering; added to naturally occurring bacteria to degrade hydrocarbon contaminants in groundwater; treating odors from landfills and reducing toxicity of landfill leachate, and others.

For additional information on Quellz® enzymes, MSDS or Venturi Aerator units contact John M. Salonich at Venturi Aeration, Inc. 603-635-8239 or e-mail: johns@venturi-aeration.com