arkiegold:
thank you for posting the link.
Very interesting and informative.
Otis.

You're very welcome. I used to use shredded newspaper. Now shredded cardboard. I'm going to need a lot of it and have only used small scale shredders up to now. Going to build a custom hammermill to take up to 3ft wide sheet.

Hello arkie:

I went to your page. Very interesting reading material and I will be following your progress in the experiment.

So how many worms are you planning to start with? I imagine you will need lots and lots of those and they will be your big bucks expens. Maybe the worm farmers in your state will donate some of their stock? Or offer some kind of a deal?

Why do you need the hammermill?
""Tampons and pads don't cause too many problems for facilities with grinders so if you're concerned......"" Can't you just wet the cardboard a bit and run them through similar grinders? I guess you won't need to be concerned about the width of the cardboards then. And neither about dust particals.

Otis.

Just updated the page Otis. Problem I found with the facility Muffin Monster grinder is that it doesn't like to be fed cardboard unless there is water running through the system. That is regulated by flow levels. Summer means low flow and not very many opportunity to shred cardboard!

Hammermill I want to build is not complicated or overly expensive. We have motors sitting around and lots of scrap metal.

As for start-up worms. I'm starting this particular sludge experiment with a pound of purchased worms so as "livestock" they belong to me and any offspring. I have various reasons for doing this. If the pound lives, eats and breeds in this medium, I expect to fully have enough through natural processes by the time full scale sludge reduction equipment such as bins and stuff can be built. Testing and record keeping with this type of material is meticulous and won't come to getting permitted overnight. I see it as a two year project minimum. Once long ago I started with a pound. I hate math so figure it at modest reproduction from a pound over two years...

If the worms can't eat the sludge with this cationic emulsion or if it is discovered that there is any hazardous effects of breaking down the polymer into its individual ingredients which may be carcinogenic, it will mean a no go for the sludge and I will carry on with pulverized cardboard and include the portions of waste from the other various plant processes that are not treated as the sludge. There is not much of it combined but it sure smells and we would do well to vermicompost it and keep it from landfill.

Thank you for explaining, arkiegold. And good luck with your experiments and projects.
Otis.

I thought you would like to see this YouTube video.

Here is a link that might be useful: CNN : Eco Solutions : Earthworms eat toxic waste

Isn't it amazing what our little friends can do!

Aussie's have been vermicomposting wastewater sludge for years and a few plants have been permitted in the US. But due to variances in waste streams, it is never going to be just as easy to adopt another system's methodology. Each has its unique waste factors and each must reach its own verifiable solutions to be permitted. With interest on the rise with ecological mindsets, we will get there!