News & Insights
Learn more about biosolids including their treatment, usage and beneficial outcomes.
Practical outcomes: 5 ways biosolids improve soil health
Healthy soil is about more than the nutrients shown on a test result. It is also about how well the soil stores water, supports plant roots, cycles nutrients and sustains the biological activity that keeps these processes working.
Biosolids can contribute to each of these functions. Produced through the treatment and stabilisation of wastewater solids, biosolids contain organic matter as well as valuable plant nutrients. When the right product is matched to the right soil and land use, and applied in accordance with regulatory and agronomic requirements, those resources can deliver practical benefits for soil health and agricultural productivity.
Here are five ways appropriately managed biosolids can improve soil.
Circular agriculture: returning nutrients to the soil and value to farming systems
Regenerative agriculture is often associated with practices that aim to improve soil health, water cycles, biodiversity and landscape function. This may include maintaining groundcover, reducing soil disturbance, integrating livestock, increasing plant diversity and rebuilding soil organic matter.
There is no single definition or prescribed set of practices for regenerative agriculture, but these approaches share a common ambition: to improve the function of the farming system rather than focus solely on the next crop or production cycle.
Circular agriculture brings another important dimension to that ambition.
Biosolids in Agriculture: Separating the Facts from the Misconceptions
When people first hear that biosolids are used on agricultural land, it is natural for them to have questions.
What exactly are biosolids? Are they safe? What do they contain? Could they affect neighbouring properties, waterways or agricultural markets?