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Re: [compost_tea] Re: What do the nasties breathe?
Hi David -
Not a dumb question at all. Pretty perceptive, in fact to put those concepts together.
There are anaerobic and facultative anaerobic organisms in compost. They are not active in aerobic conditions, so no problems in the water.
But when some of the organisms attach to the surface of the tank, other organisms attach on top of them and more on top of them, and.... so on, until oxygen does not diffuse into the lower layers of the biofilm. If there happened to be dormant stages of anaerobes or facultative anaerobes in those lower layers, they now start functioning anaerobically. And then we have problems when their numbers get to be really high.
Another reason we brew for only 24 hours, and control the amount of food resource that goes into the tea brew so you don't out-strip the ability of the aerators to keep the tea aerated.
So, cleaning is necessary. Wash the biofilms off at the end of each run.
It's another reason that flat bottom tanks area pain in the rear. It's hard to clean out those 90 degree angles, hard to get aerated water to more properly into those angles during the brew. It's why tanks with not-removable lids are a pain too. Foam and splash happen, and you have to get rid of the bio-film on the bottom side of the lids.
Think about a ship - it's always moving through well-aerated water and yet think of the biofilm that develops. Surfaces have to be cleaned.
OK? Was my explanation clear enough?
Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com
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