|
C-FAR Research Reporting
| Project Number |
98I-019-5-SIUC
|
Prior Number
|
|
| Status |
Completed |
| Project Title |
Zebra Mussels in Flow-through Waste System
|
| Research Program |
Southern Illinois University Internal Program
|
| Principal Investigator |
Richard Steffen
|
| Department/College |
Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems
|
| Institution |
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
|
Co-Investigator(s) (name, department/
college and institution) |
Todd Winters, Animal Science Food and Nutrition, College of Agriculture, Southern Illinois University
|
| Total C-FAR Funding |
$149,675 |
| Funding Period |
Jul 01, 1997
|
--
|
Jun 30, 2000
|
C-FAR Research
Focus Area |
Natural Resources
|
| Research Category |
Swine
|
Purpose and Goals
|
The primary objective of this research is to conduct the initial development of a flow-through treatment system utilizing Zebra Mussels to treat livestock waste as measured by selected water qualityr variables.
Secondly, the researchers attempted to couple Zebra mussel treatment with other treatments, such as biological filters used in indoor recirculating aquaculture systems to further enhance the capability of the system to treat swine manure.
Thirdly, the researchers attempted to identify the limiting factors in the mussels' survivability in an attempt to increase the percent of manure in the mixture.
|
Outcomes and Impact
|
Attempts to scale up the concept of using Zebra Mussels to treat swine waste were unsuccessful. The flow through systems developed were able to significantly improve the water quality parameters measured, the very dramatic effects seen in the earlier batch experiments were not seen in the flow through systems developed. While able to quality of water/manure mixtures, the researchers ran into difficulty keeping the system stable for long periods of time. The system was subject to incidents where all mussels in the system died suddenly. Attempts to identify the item or event that lead to the mussel kills were unsuccessful. Possible causes include suffocation of the mussels through plugging of their gills from very small bacteria, or toxic effects of an outbreak of one or more as yet unidentified micro-organisms. Attempts to couple the Zebra Mussels with other biological filters was also unsuccessful. It was found that despite the outstanding ability of Zebra Mussels to remove waste solids from manure/water mixtures in the short term, systems utilizing Zebra Mussels in an in indoor re-circulating system are currently improbable and uneconomical.
The impact of this research is to eliminate Zebra Mussels as a significant role in the treatment of swine waste. The impact on the environment has potential as the results of this research should help researchers attempting to mitigate the Zebra Mussel problem.
|
| Beneficiaries |
The primary beneficiaries of this research are other researchers interested in biological treatment of swine manure and researchers seeking to understand how to mitigate the problem of Zebra Mussels and other invasive species in the waterways of the US.
|
Outreach
|
The outreach efforts to date have included papers presented at the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, regional meetings of Animal Scientists and an international meeting on invasive species (International Zebra Mussel Conference).
|
| Leveraged Funding |
|
| Related Websites |
|
| Initial Entry Date |
November 20, 2000 |
| Information Updated
|
January 10, 2001 |
|
