The purpose of the IET animal-waste treatment system is to clean the flush water from the animal barns by removing suspended solids, bacteria, phosphates and nitrates so that the water can be re-used on a continuing basis to flush the animal barns as well as treating run-off water from a collection system to eliminate ground water contamination.

The system is very straightforward and once installed and optimized, will run with minimal operator intervention.  The system can be designed to handle any size water flow and consists of the following components:

• A black water surge tank to hold flush water from the animal barns
• A screening system to remove solids and undigested grain
• An Electrocoagulation (EC) System to coagulate the remaining suspended solids while reducing bacteria and BOD.  The EC System consists of the following:
  • Surge tank
  • System pump
  • Reaction chamber
  • Power supply
  • Development tank
  • PLC control system 
• A clarifier for separating the coagulated solids from the water.
• A filter to de-water the solids that are removed from the flush water.
• A reactor to remove ammonia and nitrates from the water.
• A recycle tank to hold the treated water for re-use in flushing the animal barns.

There are obvious advantages of our sustainable animal-waste treatment system

• Provide high quality flush water for the barns that will reduce health risks to the animals.
• The system treats the wastewater in a matter of hours rather than the days required for conventional treatment thereby greatly reducing the land requirements for the system.
• The elimination of lagoons that can have a strong odor and are an environmental risk if they breach their banks. 
• Eliminate the need to land apply large quantities of contaminated water that can overload the land with ammonia, phosphates and nitrates.  This water can also potentially contaminate existing ground water sources.
• Being able to re-use the water diminishes the amount of water needed thereby greatly reducing operating costs. 

The National Center for Manure & Animal Waste Management is seeking to establish The National Center for Animal Agriculture and the Environment.  Its mission will be to create a national organizational structure that will coordinate multi-disciplinary agency for the management of manure and byproducts from the commercial livestock production industry.

Increased attention is being given to environmental regulation of the United States livestock and poultry industries.

This, in addition to the recent attention to food safety and security, has increased recognition of the need for a national, coordinated and science-based approach to these issues.

The New National Center for Animal Agriculture and the Environment will:

• To coordinate the development of research priorities for existing funding programs.
• To communicate these priorities to public sector researchers, professional societies and funding agencies.
• To guide existing funding programs in setting priorities and determining scientific relevance of proposals.
• To develop the protocols and standards that can be used for technology verification.
• To develop multi-disciplinary or multi-state proposals to address priority issues.
• To provide seed or matching funds that will allow development of needed research initiatives on issues where other funding is lacking or scarce.
• To develop forums and other communication mechanisms where stakeholders can identify knowledge gaps and synthesize existing knowledge.
• To work with land grant universities and other interested stakeholders to ensure that all technological, biological, socioeconomic and environmental aspects of animal agriculture are considered in their mission activities. This would include the U.S. EPA and USDA NRCS to support the Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations.
• To collaborate with other stakeholders to develop relevant and appropriate means of education and extension efforts.