Dairy sludge generated at Glanbia Ingredients Ltd., Kilkenny has up until now beeen landspread. This study investigated the feasibility of using earthworms to vermicompost the sludge as an alternative method of treatment. It was found that high levels of ammonia in the sludge led to earthworm fatality but that by manually aerating the sludge the ammonia could be volatilised or by adding zeolite the ammonia could be absorbed, thus solving the problem. In a medium scale trial, the earthworm species Dendrobaena veneta and Eisenia fetida dominated the polyculture. Earthworms grew and generated cocoons during vermicomposting. During vermicomposting no leachate was generated.
Nutrient changes took place during vermicomposting. There were high levels of nitrate, increased calcium and sulphate in the vermicomposted dairy sludge. The amount of magnesium, potassium and chloride did not change, while phosphate was undetectable after vermicomposting. The levels of nitrate and phosphate were good indicators of the extent of vermicomposting. The vermicomposted dairy sludge provided improved growth and yields of radishes and barley compared to the dairy sludge and control. Compared to the vermicompost, the dairy sludge provided heavier ryegrass yields and more marigolds with larger flower diameters. Generally, it is the amount of phosphate in dairy sludge that dictates how much can be applied as a fertiliser on land. Vermicomposting reduced the amount of phosphate to an undetectable level but on the other hand created a problem of high nitrate levels. In a pot trial with grass grown in vermicompost the nitrate leached from the vermicompost. In field conditions the leaching of nitrate might occur and could cause an increased risk of contamination of groundwater and watercourses.

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Foster, P.   "The Production of Vermicompost from Dairy Sludge and its Value as a Plant Growth Medium". Associated datasets and digitial information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=07268b9e-1bec-102c-b381-901ddd016b14 (Last Accessed: 2025-01-24)

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SAFER-Data Display URL	https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=95
Resource Keywords	vermicomposting dairy sludge phosphate earthworms
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code	Not Applicable
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme	Waste and Resource Management
Resource Availability:	Public-Open
Limitations on the use of this Resource	The author should be properly referenced in any references to the work outlined in the attached reports.
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download):	2
Project Start Date	Monday 1st December 2003 (01-12-2003)
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Monday 1st December 2003 (01-12-2003)
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Friday 1st December 2006 (01-12-2006)
Published on SAFER	Monday 15th December 2008 (15-12-2008)
Date of Last Edit	Monday 15th December 2008 at 11:50:22 (15-12-2008)
Datasets or Files Updated On	Monday 15th December 2008 at 11:46:24 (15-12-2008)

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Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
This project was mostly based on the feasibility of using earthworms to vermicompost the dairy sludge generated at Glanbia Ingredients Ltd., Kilkenny which up to now now been landspread. This was to investigate if the use of earthworms could offer an alternative method of treatment of the sludge. As a result there is no geographicall area associated with the project other than the location of the plan t from which diary sludge was taken.

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The following is a list of projects, datasets, and resources on SAFER-Data from which users downloaded attachments from soon after downloading attachments from this resource The Production of Vermicompost from Dairy Sludge and its Value as a Plant Growth Medium. You can view the full description for projects, datasets, and resources by using the links supplied.

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