LandfarmingHydrocarbon Wastes

ReportNo WSAA 97

January 1996

SYNOPSIS

Landfarmingis the controlled application of an oily or biological waste to a land area inorder to utilise the soil’s natural degradation processes to convert the wasteinto a more environmentally acceptable form. The Urban Water ResearchAssociation of Australia and the Brisbane City Council have jointly funded thisproject at the Willawong Liquid Waste Treatment Plant sited in Willawong,Brisbane, in order to investigate the properties of landfarming oily waste asan alternative disposal option.

Trialplots were examined over a two year period during which the use of naturalsystems to degrade oily waste, the effect of phenolic degreasers, and possiblesoil improvements were monitored.

Thesetrials illustrate the viability of landfarming as a disposal option forrelatively clean oily wastes, as well as those contaminated with degreasers.The repeated controlled application of these wastes and the promotion of thenaturally occurring microbiological processes is sufficient to reduce thehydrocarbon matter to environmentally acceptable levels and promote some soilimprovements. Increases in salinity and heavy metal accumulation were alsoobserved over this trial period.

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