A Study on Biocomposting of Concentrated Distillery Spent Wash

Dark colour, low pH and high organic load characterize the distillery waste called as spent wash. If spent wash is disposed off in environment without proper treatment it poses threat to it. Out of available treatment options aerobic composting of spent wash is one of the best options. The by-products of sugar industry such as press mud and bagasse were used as filler materials. The experiments were carried out in plastic containers of 20-L capacity. The press mud and bagasse were mixed in 5:1 proportion. The spent wash was added to this mixture till the moisture content was approximately 70 %. The seeding was done with the help of Farm Yard Manure (FYM). The aeration was done manually by overturning the contents for 30 days at the interval of one day. The samples were analysed for temperature of composting mass, moisture content, organic carbon, nitrogen, pH, COD, chlorides and conductivity. Reloading of spent wash was done to maintain the moisture content. It was observed that the rate of reaction was higher at the initial stages of composting. The increase in temperature was observed at the initial stage, which went on decreasing as composting of the mass was completed.