Disposing of GFO

[atreis]

How do you? Can it be used for anything? Plant fertilizer, along with compost?

Just curious.

 

[Deinonych]

Curious about this as well.

 

[Mattewell]

Could used activated carbon be used at a plant fertilizer? I'm interested in this as well. Good question.

 

[rgulrich]

Actually, probably not a bad thought to mix in with compost (after a quick freshwater rinse) to use in the garden. Especially for roses, as I understand they really appreciate a high-iron content soil amendment. Activated carbon should work as well (though wouldn't provide the iron content).

 

[Mysticalknight]

as a fertilizer it would make sense since phosphate is such a large part of fertilizers

 

[atreis]

That was my thinking - phosphate and iron are both components in fertilizer... Seems no one knows of a reason not to, so I'll start giving it a try.

 

[Sprink669]

great idea!! i have some sitting in a 5 gallon bucket that will go on the flower beds.

 

[Savoie83]

Put it in a 5g bucket and when its full, regenerate it.

 

[MJNTWise]

Put it in a 5g bucket and when its full, regenerate it.

+1

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/10/chemistry

 

[rogersb]

I just threw mine in the trash but this gets me thinking. Next time I will give it a freshwater rinse and try it in a plants soil mix.

 

[CoralMD]

I always just put it in low spots or small holes in my yard

 

[ReefKeeper64]

If you're throwing used GFO in your yard, you are wasting a lot of money. GFO per pound is more expensive than aged filet Mignon but if you learn how to recycle (regenerate it), you can save the earth and save your wallet at the same time. You won't see instructions on your GFO container about how to re-use it but it is a very simple and inexpensive process that is good for the environment.

 

[guserto4]

I had no idea you could regenerate the stuff. My flower beds will have to wait awhile!

 

[Ptyochromis]

I would think all the salt in the GFO would be bad for the soil. I would check the pH of your soil, if the pH is too high then Fe will be locked out. It's more than likely that GFO can raise the pH of soil, it precipitates CaCO3 which may leech into acidic soil, raise the pH and lock out Fe.

You can regenerate GFO by running sodium hydroxide through it for a day.

 

[mpjones]

I would think all the salt in the GFO would be bad for the soil. I would check the pH of your soil, if the pH is too high then Fe will be locked out. It's more than likely that GFO can raise the pH of soil, it precipitates CaCO3 which may leech into acidic soil, raise the pH and lock out Fe.

You can regenerate GFO by running sodium hydroxide through it for a day.

So by running sodium hydroxide through it for a day, I can rinse it off and reuse it again for my saltwater system??????

 

[Ptyochromis]

Ya, you just have to rinse all the NaOH out. Good luck finding pure NaOH locally, ever since methamphetamine makers figured out that some drain cleaners were pure NaOH you cannot find it anymore. If you try and by a whole ton of lab grade you get asked a million questions lol.

If you can find red devil lye, it's pure NaOH.

Edit: Link

Sodium Hydroxide is caustic stuff. Just google NaOH burns (or don't).

 

[mpjones]

Ya, you just have to rinse all the NaOH out. Good luck finding pure NaOH locally, ever since methamphetamine makers figured out that some drain cleaners were pure NaOH you cannot find it anymore. If you try and by a whole ton of lab grade you get asked a million questions lol.

If you can find red devil lye, it's pure NaOH.

Edit: Link

Sodium Hydroxide is caustic stuff. Just google NaOH burns (or don't).

Thanks for the info and link, great read! I will be trying this sometime in the future!

 

[Bender19]

Here's is super sacks of pure spent carbon growing plants. Yes spent carbon can permit life depending on its source.

 

[Bender19]

Sodium hydroxide lab grad 50%. Warning: caustic is very potent. And can cause serious burns as it is 14 on the pH scale.

 

[atreis]

I live in an environmentally sensitive location and my septic effluent and system are regularly monitored by the county EPA to make sure I'm not polluting the protected waterway next to my house. (The small amount of saltwater from weekly water changes doesn't seem to bother them - I checked before restarting the tank after moving here - the size of the tank was dictated by the permitted size of the weekly water change, but I also have to be careful about the types of detergents and soaps that we use.) Any idea what they'd think of dumping sodium hydroxide down the drain, as recommended in the article, or what effect it would have on the fauna in my septic system?