Technical Bulletin No. 0015: Strawboard Waste Research Second Annual Report

During the first year of work on the-strawboard waste project, stress was placed on determining the characteristics of these wastes which might be governing factors in the development of methods for their treatment. Some of the important conclusions reached, during this first phase of the work (see page 63, Technical Bulletin No. 7) were: 1. The organic matter present in strawboard waste is oxidized as readily as the organic matter in domestic sewage when the nutrients necessary for biological growth are present. 2. Sixty-eight per cent of the BOD in total strawboard waste is dissolved and dispersed and will pass through the asbestos mat of a Gooch crucible. 3. The concentration of nitrogen in total strawboard wastes is lower than is necessary to sustain the biologic life in the decomposition of all oxidizable organic matter. 4. Thirty minutes of quiescent settling of total strawboard waste will remove 42 per cent of the suspended solids. 5. Tests on total strawboard waste show that the natural coagulating qualities of the waste are not effective in the removal of its suspended solids. 6. Indications are that a large percentage of the strawboard waste that must be disposed of originates from the materials in the baled straw rather than from the straw stems.