Immokalee Water and Sewer District – Case Study of Effective Biosolids Management
The Immokalee Water and Sewer District (IWSD) is currently paying a premium to have their Biosolids dewatered and hauled to a landfill. The annual cost to IWSD for contract dewatering, hauling and landfill disposal has historically been upwards of 500,000. Although landfill disposal of Biosolids is still common in Florida, it should not be viewed as a long term solution.
Landfill disposal is considered to be environmentally beneficial only when the landfill is equipped to recover and convert methane gas into electricity. Landfills are carefully engineered and monitored to ensure protection of groundwater and surface water and stability of the landfill mass. As such, landfills have a limited capacity to accept Biosolids in proportion to the total tons of refuse received. Most importantly, landfill disposal does not take advantage of the nutrient value and soil-building properties of biosolids, and takes up landfill space that can be better used for other materials.
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