[USCC] water hyacinth

[Matthew Cotton]

Dan -

I know there has been some positive experience with composting water  
hyacinth. I believe in the past the folks in Austin, Texas (try Jody  
Slagle at the City of Austin -  jody.slagle at ci.austin.tx.us)  
composted the hyacinth that was part of their wastewater treatment  
plant. I think the folks in Arcata do so as well (try Julie Neander,  
at the City of Arcata 707-822-8184) The City may not be doing  
Hyacinth specifically, but they compost lots of similar aquatic  
plants used in their filtration system.

Water hyacinth has a very high moisture content so it is typically  
composted in small amounts, or allowed to dry out before being added  
to a compost pile.

A quick Google search turned up:  http://www.itdg.org/docs/ 
technical_information_service/water_hyacinth_control.pdf

Which has  a fair amount of useful info on water hyacinth that may  
answer some of your other questions. I've tried to provide some quick  
answers below.

Hope this is useful.

Matthew Cotton
Integrated Waste Management Consulting, LLC
19375 Lake City Road
Nevada City, CA  95959
(530) 265-4560
Fax (530) 265-4547
mattcotton at mindspring.com

Join us at the US Composting Council's 16th Annual Conference & Trade  
Show, February 8 - 12th, 2008 at the Oakland Marriott City Center,  
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On Jun 6, 2007, at 11:42 AM, Dan De Grassi wrote:

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> Dear USCC Community-
> We have a 22 acre lake that has become infested with water hyacinth  
> and
> our Parks Department is exploring options for management of the  
> material
> after it has been removed and ground up. I have several questions, to
> wit:
> 1. What amount of material might be there? We've heard estimates of
> 16,000 yds and 100,000 yds. Is there a standard method to  
> calculate? Is
> there a typical volume to weight factor?

The ITDG site lists up to 200 tons per acre (95% of which is water  
weight, so drying is critical if you're going to transport it anywhere).

> 2. What issues are involved in composting, other than the high  
> moisture
> content?

That is the main one, though clearly bulking it up by adding lots of  
shredded green or wood waste would also be critical to providing  
needed porosity.


> 3. Is it the kind of material that compost operations might want as a
> feedstock?

Yes, especially if there was a tip fee involved.

> 4. How easy is it to dry this stuff? How much volume reduction  
> happens?

Don't know, but I know it is commonplace to dry it before moving it.  
I seem to recall the Bureau of Reclamation spending significant money  
on finding uses for mechanically removed water hyacinth from all of  
the CA Water Project pumping stations where it is a constant problem.  
You might try searching the BOR site as well.

> 5. Does it have any feed value for livestock?
>
See the ITDG website for info on feeding livestock and other  
practical applications.

> 6. Are there issues with straight land application?

See the ITDG website for info on feeding livestock and other  
practical applications.

> Thanks for any info provided,
> Dan deGrassi
> Santa Cruz County DPW
> 831-454-3102
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