Browsing by Subject "Compost"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Continued Monitoring of Stormwater Effluents from Filter Media in Two Bioslope Sites
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2021-06) Cai, Meijun; Patelke, Marsha; Saftner, David
    Over the last thirty years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has implemented biofilters along roadways as a stormwater control measure. The state and national regulations require that the biofilters must be able to infiltrate and treat the first inch of rainfall onsite. However, the performance of the biofilters after installation has rarely been studied. An early phase of this project monitored two newly constructed biofilter sites for two years and for three months, respectively. This study extended the monitoring of soil moisture changes and infiltration water quality for another two years (2019-2020). Over the four-year monitoring period, both salvage peat and compost materials showed the capacity to retain the first inch of runoff, and this retention capacity did not change over the study period. The drainage water quality showed significantly temporal trends, particularly phosphorus concentrations, which were declining significantly for both compost and salvage peat. The application of tailing with compost can reduce the phosphorus release. The leachate from salvage peat has similar metal concentrations but much lower phosphorus concentrations (below 100 ppb) than the compost. The lowest chemical concentrations were achieved when the soil mixture contained 10% compost and 10% salvage peat, implying the best stormwater control practice is to limit the organic ratio to around 20%. Findings from this work determined the validity of using peat and compost for future biofilters and can aid in future design.
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    Development and Regionalization of In Situ Bioslopes and Bioswales
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2019-07) Johnson, Kurt W.; Cai, Meijun; Patelke, Marsha; Saftner, David; Cruz, Chanelle
    This project is a multi-disciplinary investigation into the use of alternative media for biofiltration systems in Minnesota. Over the last thirty years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has implemented biofilters along roadways as a stormwater control measure. These systems must be able to infiltrate and treat the first inch of rainfall onsite to meet state and national regulations. The performance of a biofilter is largely based on its media?s ability to infiltrate water, sustain vegetation, and capture pollutants. To date, MnDOT has relied on sand and compost mixtures for biofilter media components. An early phase of this work identified peat as having similar performance characteristics as compost, making it an ideal alternative. A laboratory testing program was also developed during the early phase of work to determine media properties that could be used to predict biofilter performance. This project focused on characterizing existing biofilters using in situ testing and comparing results to laboratory testing. The comparison of the two methods demonstrated the predictive capabilities of the laboratory regime. This project also included the instrumentation and monitoring of field sites including a newly constructed peat amended biofilter. Findings from this work determined the validity of using peat for future biofilters and can aid in identifying and characterizing other alternative media.
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    Episode 16 Manure, Compost, and Weeds, with Chryseis Modderman: What's Killing My Kale?
    (2018-10-31) Klodd, Annie; Hoidal, Natalie; Modderman, Chryseis
    This month on "What's Killing My Kale?" we had a fascinating discussion about this with Chryseis Modderman, UMN Extension Educator for manure management. Among other things, we talked about best practices for applying compost and manure on vegetable fields, and how it is that weed seeds and diseases can travel all the way from the pasture, through the animal, and onto the vegetable field. We then discussed practices that growers can adopt to minimize the risk of bringing in new weed infestations via manure and compost.
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    Neonicotinoid and Fipronil Insecticides in Minnesota: A Statewide Survey into the Occurrence, Detection, and Removal of Neonicotinoids and Fiproles in Minnesota Surface Waters ,Groundwater, and Engineered Treatment Systems.
    (2023-10) Goedjen, Grant
    Neonicotinoids and fiproles have been used extensively in Minnesota agriculture for the last three decades. Their high mobility in water and longevity in aquatic systems makes them key candidates for transport in surface runoff and groundwater to contaminate Minnesota surface and groundwater systems. Four large field studies of (1) Minnesota groundwater and natural springs, (2) Minnesota surface waters, (3) stormwater and precipitation at stormwater-impacted Saint Paul Lake, and (4) wastewater, drinking water, and compost treatment systems were conducted over three years (2019-2022) to evaluate the state of neonicotinoids and insecticides in Minnesota’s natural waters and the current capacity for removal by existing treatment processes. Shallow unconfined groundwater and natural springs were more susceptible to contamination than deeper groundwater. Clothianidin (41% of springs, 14% of wells) was the most common insecticide detected followed by thiamethoxam (31% of springs, 12% of wells), imidacloprid (22% of springs, 10% of wells), thiacloprid (19% of springs, 2% of wells), acetamiprid (12% of springs, 14% of wells), and fipronil (19% of spring, 1% of wells). Groundwater depth also appeared to limit groundwater contamination to shallow systems with detections increasing with increasing urban land use and watershed imperviousness. Tritium/groundwater age, dissolved oxygen (DO), and total nitrite plus nitrate (total oxidized nitrogen), all correlated to noenicitinoid occurrence. Clothianidin (31% lakes, 60% rivers), thiamethoxam (19% lakes, 44% rivers), imidacloprid (65% lakes, 85% rivers), acetamiprid (29% lakes, 35% rivers), thiacloprid (15% lakes, 13% rivers), and fipronil (32% lakes, 30% rivers) were all detected in surface water lakes and rivers. Thiamethoxam and clothianidin has an association with agricultural watersheds while acetamiprid, thiacloprid, and fipronil were associated with urban watersheds. Increasing watershed catchment size and imperviousness increased the likelihood of contamination but the previous year’s application rates were the largest determining factor in the risk of insecticide contamination. All five neonicotinoid and fipronil were detected in stormwater (6% - 49%) and snow melt (13% - 29%). Stormwater and snow melt concentrations spiked with the “spring flush” during the early spring and summer months. Imidacloprid (17% rain, 47% snow), acetamiprid (6% rain, 33% snow), and clothianidin (44% rain, 39% snow), were all detected in direct rainfall and snowfall samples. Most of the contamination in stormwater (>76% stormwater, >67% snowmelt) was picked up as water moves through the watershed with correlated strongly correlations to application rates and soil and lipophilicity. Neonicotinoids and fipronil were present in drinking water, wastewater, and compost material provided by a commercial composting center. Current wastewater biological treatment technologies did not result in a significant reduction in concentrations. Biologically-activated carbon filtration with and without pre-oxidation provided a substantial reduction in concentrations (86% - 100% removal). Pre-oxidation did generate oxidized transformation products (<3.5% yield) but all transformation products were removed by downstream filtration. Compost was capable of degrading fipronil in both residential and commercial composting operations while clothianidin and acetamiprid were degradable in commercial composting systems and acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, fipronil were partially degradable in residential composters. Runoff produced from rainfall at the composting facility with substantial neonicotinoid and fipronil concentrations.