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Home > AFO Strategies for Source Water Protection > Reactive Solutions for Managing and Treating AFO Wastes |
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*Source Water Protection |
Waste Storage Facilities Storage of animal waste intended for ultimate land application is important for allowing it to be held until later periods when climate, weather, and soil conditions, as well as plant requirements, are more optimal. Storage allows the farmer flexibility for performing land application at times when these conditions are best for coinciding with soil and crop needs and for protecting water sources (USEPA, 2001a), and for when it may be more convenient for the task. The waste storage component of the farm's management plan should identify the required storage volume; storage period; the type, size, location, and installation cost of the storage facility; management costs for the process, and any impacts of the storage on the consistency or other characteristics of the material (USDA, 1999). Different types of storage facilities of various sizes are used for different applications, including concrete flooring, shelters, holding tanks, pits, lagoons, and others. Some storage, such as liquid waste lagoons or solid waste compost piles, also provides some degree of treatment. Storage alone is often accomplished in pits located directly below the production facility (a practice common for hogs in cold climates and older egg-production facilities) or in either earthen storage pits or above-ground tanks, which are separated from the production facility. As an example, poultry litter storage facilities are commonly used to keep rainwater and runoff away from poultry house waste. Various types of litter storage facilities are available, including (listed in order of most to least effective for pollution prevention) roofed structures, bunker-type storage, covered stockpiles, and uncovered stockpiles (USEPA, 2001a). Clearly, covered facilities are the best for stopping precipitation from mixing with stored waste piles. Concrete flooring is often used to simplify waste collection procedures and restrict potential contamination into underlying groundwater.
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