Victorian freight company employs novel waste water solution

Booth Transport is using the worms to increase efficiency in waste management and has dramatically slashed the company's environmental impact.

The worm farm to filters out dairy proteins in waste water.

Previously, the 125 million litres of waste water generated from washing milk tankers and storage silos was taken off site, for disposal.

The company's water treatment plant plant has been running since August 2018.

But Booth's project manager Brendan Edwards said the company found salinity levels were a concern, so have been "shandying" it, with channel water.

"Once it's treated, we have some large holding dams out the back, and we are now irrigating grain crops," Mr Edwards said.

"We've just sprouted our first crop of sorghum.

"The phosphorous levels are a little bit elevated - but I've been told that's a good crop to grow quickly, and take some of the phosphorous out of the water."

He said 10-12 hectares of a 19ha had been sown to sorghum.

"It's not so much about growing the crops, as getting rid of the salt and phosphorous - we are truck drivers, not farmers," he said.

At capacity the plant will see a reduction of 3000 tonnes of carbon emission and an additional 121,000 kilolitres of recycled water put into the irrigation system each year. The plant has the potential to process waste from neighbouring processing systems, other than milk, offering even more support for local farmers and savings to local businesses.

Now, Mr Edwards said Booth was looking at using a capacitive deionization (CDI) system to take salt out of the water.

The technology uses electricity to reduce salinity and is regarded as more energy efficient than other forms of desalination.

CDI is generally used to clean up brackish groundwater.

"We've been testing for the last two months, we are thinking of commissiong it in the next month or six weeks," he said.

"It just means we don't have to take water out of the irrigation channels to secure the crop, we can use all our own water and grow what we need."

The worm farm had reduced organics in the water by up to 95 per cent.

Another positive spin off would be worm castings, which needed to be recovered every 18 months to two years, when the beds were replenished..

"We'll get some testing done, to see how good it will be, and probably provide it as a fertiliser," he said.

"Potentially, it could be another revenue stream."

Mr Edwards said the worm farm technology was used being used on dairy farms, in America, using effluent from milking parlours and feedlots.

"There is one in Washington state which is about 35,000 square metres on a 5000 head dairy farm."

The project was funded through an Environmental Upgrade Agreement through the Sustainable Australia Fund over 10 years.

Booth took out a long-term, fixed-rate loan for the total cost of the works, which is being repaid through the local council's rates system.

It has been estimated the plant saves 3000 tonnes of carbon emissions, 450,000kilometres of travel and 225,000 litres of diesel fuel.