Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Characteristics Of Phototrophic And Non-Phototrophic Lagoons For Swine Manure, Tongtong Chen, Dennis D. Schulte, Richard K. Koelsch, Anne M. Parkhurst

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Odors are a major result of inadequately sized and mismanaged anaerobic lagoons. However, purple or pink colored lagoons, indicating the presence of phototrophic purple bacteria, are less likely to be an odor nuisance than are non–purple lagoons. Eight swine lagoons were studied to quantify critical parameters thought to allow purple lagoons to be a more reliable odor control alternative. Bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl a), which indirectly measures the abundance of phototrophic bacteria, was greater in purple lagoons than in non–purple lagoons (P = 0.01). Oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) was less negative for purple lagoons than for non–purple lagoons in both spring …