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Sydney Water is paying more than a quarter of a million dollars to CSIRO, to investigate the effects of sewage sludge in pine plantations.
The research, based at Wingello State Forest, is led by Dr Philip Polglase of the CSIRO Division of Forestry.
Dr Polglase said, "We have to find out what happens to nutrients contained in the sludge to make sure the trees can use them, and to avoid the risk of pollution of ground water or river systems. Different soils and climate affect how the sludge is broken down and made available to the plants."
State Forests has been conducting research in cooperation with Sydney Water since 1991 on the effects of applying sludge to plantations. This project extends that research.
Sludge, also known as biosolids, is the solid part of sewage. It is dewatered and transported to the forest where it is spread by machinery.
"It is a win - win situation," said Dr Polglase. "Sydney Water uses a waste product in an environmentally sensitive manner and the plantations grow more quickly and therefore more profitably. Sludge can act just like the slow-release fertiliser we use on pot plants."
Research results will ultimately be made available as a computer model providing guidelines for plantation managers.
CSIRO already has a major project investigating the use of effluent (the liquid part of sewage) to grow plantations at Wagga Wagga, NSW.
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