Volume 4
Issue 2
Environmental Development
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume4/issue2/environment/abs-1.html
AGRICULTURAL USABILITY OF SEWAGE SLUDGE AND VERMICOMPOST OF TANNERY ORIGIN
Krzysztof Gondek, Barbara Filipek-Mazur
ABSTRACT
Sludge and vermicompost of organic origin were examined in a field experiment aimed at determining their suitability as soil fertilisers. The experiment was performed in three consecutive years (1996-98) on the sludge originating from a biological and chemical tannery sewage treatment plant and vermicompost based on the sewage sludge to which fruit tree leaves and wheat straw were added. Comparison to the farmyard manure proved that higher abundance of organic matter, nitrogen, calcium and sodium was found for both untreated tannery sludge and sludge composted by Eisenia fetida; the content of potassium was, however, much lower while phosphorus and magnesium were found in the amounts similar to farmyard manure. Contamination with heavy metals, apart from chromium, remained within the acceptable limits. The yield forming effects of the untreated biological sludge and vermicomposts were equal to the ones obtained for the mineral treatment, whereas chemical sludge gave results similar t
Key words: sewage sludge, vermicompost, yield, macroelements, heavy metals.