Peat Moss Treatment System Installed

A sewage treatment system that uses peat moss to treat wastewater has been installed on a dairy farm in Hilden, Colchester Co.

Testing of the system will be carried out over the next year at Hilden Farms. Farm owner Peter Densmore says the potential for using a peat system to treat agricultural waste is immense.

"If this system provides the level of treatment we think it will, then it will go a long way towards dealing with agricultural wastewater issues around the province," Mr. Densmore said.

The Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour is investing $15,000 in the project. Angus MacIsaac, Acting Environment and Labour Minister, calls the project a good investment given the success of the system in treating home waste.

"It is exciting to think that this new system can economically tackle a challenge like treating agricultural waste," said Mr. MacIsaac.

Use of peat to treat wastewater has been proven in other provinces and countries for decades. In Nova Scotia, the Department of Environment and Labour and Shaw Resources Ltd. have worked together recently to introduce this technology. Over the last year, six residential systems have been installed and are working well.

Mr. MacIsaac said the department's Environment Industries and Technologies division continually partners with the private sector to find solutions to environmental problems and to spur economic activity.