[GreenYes] Re: Food outside the pipe.

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

Does anyone have a life cycle assessment of the environmental impacts of alternative methods of handling food scraps? Recently, we received a report based on the EPA Decision Support Tool that indicated that composting has a lot of negative impacts due to VOCs from the compost sites and, if I remember right, NOx.
 
Thanks,
 
John 
 
PS - In my part of the country, we have not had the infiltration and dumping problems described below. Our POTW also has lots of capacity to handle more flow and the bio-solids are spread on ag land. How do the environmental impacts of such a system compare to establishing a separate storage, collection, transportation and processing system for composting food? 

-----Original Message-----
From: GreenYes@no.address [mailto:GreenYes@no.address]On Behalf Of RicAnthony@no.address
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 12:38 PM
To: hspie@no.address; GreenYes@no.address
Subject: [GreenYes] Food outside the pipe.



In a message dated 8/9/2006 9:11:03 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, hspie@no.address writes:Alan's concerns (which I share) relate to the likelihood that conventional sewer systems will sometimes fail.
 
 
Here is the problem;
1.  early sewer connections did not require a lot of pre treatment (industrial chemicals)..
2.  Original clay  sewer pipers put in during the 60 ies are leaking (this is called infiltration).  No problem  in dry or average weather but in the big storm the water seeps into the pipes and they flow at full capacity which a treatment plant or wet well can not take for very long (capacity issues).  When that happens the wastewater is diverted, usually to a holding basin and if necessary to a live stream. 
 
During the big storms in SO CAL last year  million of gallons of raw sewage was discharged into the ocean from San Diego to Santa Barbara.  
 
Alan is right,  taking the organics a and sorting  them for composting is best practice and more consistently environmentally sound.
 
 
 
Ricanthony@no.address
RichardAnthonyAssociates.com
San Diego, California







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