Ed Burkhart is a Farmland contractor in Smithland, Iowa. We started working with Ed last fall when he realized the 9-12 inches of heavy solids buildup in his four 1000 head pull plugs was not going to be as easy to get rid of as he had hoped.

Ed’s buildings are designed to drain from both ends, however solids had built up to the point that fully one third to one half of the pits would not flow or drain and the situation was getting worse each month. We started by injecting Pit Remedy PLUS into the manure solids. Month by month we gained ground and finally by May Ed could drain all pits from either end. Ed’s comments were, "The results were as good or better than claimed. Overall, Pit Remedy and their representative far exceeded my expectations."

Ed continues to use Pit Remedy PLUS, taking advantage of our monthly AutoShip program (see May 2000 issue).

• Colorado Odor Emissions Control 
  Implementation Update

For some time now we have been working with several large Colorado hog producers. In the process, we have become observers of the developments in that state regarding odor issues and we thought we would pass this on so you would know what these producers are facing.

In November 1998, Colorado residents passed a referendum concerning odor emitted from swine units. As the legislation came down through the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division (CAPCD) it stated that anaerobic lagoon treatment systems had to be covered. The industry argued in return that covering lagoons with an impermeable cover would cause more problems than it solved. Their argument was that other technologies should not be ruled out.

The CAPCD and the Industry agreed to form a panel of experts, two selected by the producers, one by the state. Dr. Al Sutton (Purdue University), Dr. Dwaine Bundy (Iowa State), and Bill Cody, a consultant with Tetra Tech EM, Inc. in Denver, were chosen to form the panel. The initial issues they tackled were how to measure odor and secondly, to determine what was an acceptable odor threshold standard.

Odor Threshold readings were chosen as the means of measuring odor. In this process, odor is captured from the surface of the lagoon through a vacuum system and bagged (see pictures). It is then sent overnight to a testing lab where a panel of trained personnel determine how many units of fresh air are required to be added to the sample before no odor can be detected from one unit of captured air.

To establish a level of acceptability, the panel studied the original legislation and determined that an 80% comparable effectiveness of a covered lagoon would be used as the standard. Odor threshold readings were taken from several covered lagoons and a standard was set. Lagoons must be tested twice, at least 30 days apart, during the months of June, July and August. Odor Threshold readings must come in at or below the standard or producers are out of compliance.  As a result of the legislation Colorado has become a showcase of technologies; plastic covers, digesters, surface aeration and bottom aeration. Pit Remedy is being used by two large producers involved in the Odor Threshold monitoring. After positive initial results, they have expanded their use of Pit Remedy to additional facilities.

Odor Threshold is the same testing that was done by Iowa State last year inside 44 pull plug and deep pit buildings. In those twelve months of testing, buildings treated with Pit Remedy had 50% less odor than untreated buildings. We know that accelerated biological degradation of manure is an economical means of reducing odor.

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