Aerobic static pile composting of piggery solids was investigated at a
5 m(3) scale. Sawdust was used as the bulking agent to provide additi
onal carbon and to increase the porosity of the substrate. The tempera
ture profiles indicated that the solid waste could be pasteurised comp
letely. The nutrient analysis showed that 79% of initial nitrogen was
conserved in the compost while there was no significant change in phos
phorus concentration. The microbiological assays revealed that there w
as a four orders of magnitude decline in Enterococci counts while the
MPN counts decreased by three orders of magnitude suggesting there may
be spore-forming bacteria surviving the composting process. Copyright
(C) 1996 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.