Albany's Biosolids Program
To learn more about biosolids, visit the Albany Biosolids page
A by-product of the City's wastewater treatment process is digested, thickened sludge, or biosolids. Operating under State and Federal environmental regulations, the City has turned this process by-product into a valuable resource through transport and application to agricultural cropland, mainly local grass seed farms. The biosolids provides a beneficial soil amendment with enough fertilizer value to significantly "green up" the grass seed crop. Every step of the land application operation is closely monitored to ensure that we are in compliance with DEQ regulations, and that we satisfy the land application needs of local growers.
In response to the need to curtail winter application of biosolids, the City constructed a belt filter press thickening facility and adjacent storage facility, gaining completion in March 2001. The new storage facility has an 8-month storage capacity, and it allows us to land apply dewatered biosolids during dry months. To ensure that we achieve excellence in our biosolids program, the City has committed to participation as one of the 27 charter members in the national Environmental Management System (EMS) for biosolids, a program established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA). An EMS is a set of standard procedures and steps that biosolids managers can voluntarily use to improve the effectiveness of their operations, to meet regulatory requirements, and to address issues of concern to local citizens.