Konya Metropolitan Contributes to Farmers and Production with Sewage Sludge

Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay stated that approximately 35 thousand tons of organic fertilizer is produced annually in Konya Wastewater Treatment Plants and said, "Treatment sludge is brought to the country's economy and agricultural economy as organic fertilizer. We both obtain energy from the sludge treated and stabilized in the plants and treat it as fertilizer without the need for additional investment for disposal by making applications in the soil." Farmers who use sewage sludge in their fields stated that treatment sludge is more effective than artificial fertilizer, and that barren soils become fertile with treatment sludge and product quality increases.

Konya Metropolitan Municipality KOSKİ General Directorate, which is the first administration in Turkey to obtain official permits for the use of sewage sludge in the soil in accordance with the legislation, as well as making multidimensional evaluations of the issue through academic studies, is a reference by conducting pilot studies in many alternative evaluation areas.

Alpay Üstündağ, one of the farmers who used the treatment sludge, stated that he was very satisfied with the treatment sludge and said, "About 4 years ago, engineer friends from KOSKİ, Provincial Directorate of Environment, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture came and made soil analyzes in our region. After the analysis, they recommended that we use a certain amount of this KOSKI wastewater sludge per decare. We used this sludge, taking into account the recommendations. In the region where we are located, we have done this practice twice. Here we are engaged in the cultivation of alfalfa. These soils were not very rich in organic matter. After throwing the fertilizer, we saw the difference in our analysis. In terms of organic matter, the soil became very fertile. There was an increase in quality. We have observed this one by one. The soils here do not require chemical fertilizers for 10 years. After this fertilization, we did not throw any chemical fertilizer again. We grow it completely naturally and we send alfalfa all over Turkey."

Muammer Nur Koyuncu, one of the first to use sewage sludge in agricultural production, expressed his satisfaction with the treatment sludge, which they observed to be much more useful than artificial fertilizers, with the following words: "We have been using sewage sludge as organic fertilizer for 10 years. Much more useful and high quality than artificial fertilizer. We have seen 50 percent more benefits than other fertilizers. We used alfalfa, corn for silage, sugar beet in all of them. We usually got the same amount of efficiency in all of them. Since the pH and lime ratio of our soils is very high, the benefit of this sludge is very high. We are trying to fertilize these barren and infertile lands with sewage sludge and animal manure."