Management of Livestock Wastes for Water Resource Protection

Abstract

The past four decades have seen the emergence of a growing desire worldwide that positive actions be taken to restore and protect the environment from the degrading effects of all forms of pollution – air, water, soil, thermal, radioactive, and noise. Since pollution is a direct or indirect consequence of waste, the seemingly idealistic demand for “zero discharge” can be construed as an unrealistic demand for zero waste. However, as long as waste continues to exist, we can only attempt to abate the subsequent pollution by converting it to a less noxious or reusable form. Three major questions usually arise when a particular type of pollution has been identi- fied: (1) How serious are the environmental pollution and natural resources crisis? (2) Is the technology to abate them available? (3) Do the costs of abatement justify the degree of abatement achieved for environmental protection and natural resources conservation? This book is one of the volumes of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering series. The principal intention of this series is to help readers formulate answers to the above three questions.