Conference noted::equitation

1724.0. "New Use for Horse Manure?" by INGOT::ROBERTS () Wed Mar 31 1993 13:07

     OK folks, here's your chance to make the big bucks in the "horse" 
    business!
    
	VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                         
    
                             Cheaper Clean Water
    
    Professor Emeritus S. John Pirt of King's College in London has found a 
    microbe in horse manure that both dines on sludge and generates heat, up 
    to 80C (176F), enough to kill harmful bacteria in sewage. By teaming the 
    new bugs with other microbes, Pirt is developing a fermentation process 
    that digests raw sewage, leaving behind only treated water and trace 
    minerals. The process also gives off carbon dioxide, which he hopes to 
    collect for sale to greenhouses. Pirt predicts that his "biocombustion" 
    technology will be 40% cheaper than incineration, now the preferred 
    method of disposing of sludge. And it can be scaled to suit any size 
    community. Pirt says it will take three years and $5M, which he is 
    soliciting from interested water companies, to finish development. 
    {Business Week March 22, 1993}

    
    Should we all mail him a manure sample? (8

    I was writing this note and you beat me to the punch!  At first read, I
    thought it was a joke - but apparently it's true.