Feature Story
Biosolids for Cool-Season
Sod Production By Derik Cataldi, Erik Ervin, Ph.D., and Greg Evanylo, Virginia Tech
A
pplying municipal biosolids to sod-production fields may benefit sod growers and taxpayers, who must otherwise bear the cost of wastewater sewage-sludge disposal. As urban areas expand, sod growers must produce and distribute sod for new homes, apartments and parks. Wastewater treatment facilities, meanwhile, must treat and dispose of more sewage. Linking sod production and waste management may produce
a cost-competitive product, while providing a beneficial reuse pathway for biosolids. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of biosolids treatments to synthetic fertilizer for sod production.
Materials and methods
At Woodward Turf Farms (in Remington, VA), an anaerobically digested class-A dewatered biosolids cake from the Alexandria Sanitation Authority
Figure 1. 2010 Turfgrass Quality, using a 1–9 scale (with 9 being excellent and 6 being acceptable).
and a blended biosolids dewatered cake (with woody fines) were applied and incorporated to supply three estimated nitrogen-availability rates (87, 174 and 261 lbs. N/acre). These rates respectively are 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 times the agronomic N rate estimated to be required to produce tall fescue sod. All treatments were compared to a 174 lbs. N/A (the recommended agronomic N rate) synthetic fertilizer
Figure 2. 2011 Turfgrass Quality, using a 1–9 scale (with 9 being excellent and 6 being acceptable).
18 | Virginia Turfgrass Journal July/August 2012 www.vaturf.org