Spotsylvania County's Compost Facility Expanding a Successful Operation

In 2001, Spotsylvania County initiated a pilot composting program to divert material from the County's landfill facility. The program combined the mulch, collected through convenience centers, and the undigested dewatered wastewater residuals from the Massaponax Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) to create a marketable Class A product. The pilot program proved successful and in 2003, the program was expanded to handle up to 800 tons per month of wastewater residuals. The expanded operation processed approximately 8,800 tons of wastewater residuals in 2003 to an excess of 12,000 tons per year in 2008; leaving an additional 5,000 to 6,000 tons of wastewater residuals per year going to the landfill from FMC, a second WWTP.By 2006, the composting program had proven so successful that the County elected to expand the program further. The new expansion would accommodate growth from future treatment plant expansions and the wastewater residuals from the FMC facility. Once completed, the primary objective of the 2001 pilot program to divert 100% of wastewater residuals out of the landfill stream would be accomplished.The new facility took over a year to design and nearly two years to construct. Construction started in the summer of 2008 and reached substantial completion in the spring of 2010. The new facility incorporates negative aeration, biofilter odor control, and automated SCADA control of process fans based on real time temperature feedback.This paper will discuss all aspects of the compost expansion from the technologies employed to construction techniques used. The start up and shake down procedures, lessons learned, the anticipated operation costs as well as compost marketing and sales will be discussed.