Treatment technologies for feedlot effluent reuse

Summary

The project examined the sustainable effluent yields for a 5,000, 10,000 and 25,000 head feedlot located in each of the five major lot feeding regions of Australia and technologies that could be used to treat this effluent to a stage where it could be reused for cattle drinking water.
Modelling indicated the sustainable yield of effluent for reuse within the feedlot can meet about 20% of the total water requirement for most locations. However, only 10-12% of the total water requirement can be met for a feedlot in the Riverina (represented by Charlton for the modelling exercise).
While technologies exist that are capable of treating feedlot effluent to the required standard, capital expenditure costs for a suitable treatment train are likely to be around $1500 to $5000 per ML, with operating costs of around $2000 to $3500 per ML depending on the degree of process automation implemented. This makes for an overall cost of $3500 to $8500 per ML with considerable uncertainty around this range of costs. This cost is very high relative to typical water prices and would put those installing such a plant at a commercial disadvantage compared to feedlots that have access to cheaper water. Consequently few individual feedlots would be likely to take this step at current water prices.