By Brian K. Murphy
Wilson County News

SAN ANTONIO — A recent decision by the San Antonio Water Systems’ board of directors should leave some residents of northern Wilson County breathing a little easier.

At the least, it will leave them breathing none of the odor from a controversial fertilizer that had been applied to farmland near the Fairview community.

The SAWS’ board decided to discontinue the production of class-B biosolid material, which was used as a commercial fertilizer, after a number of people from Wilson and Atascosa counties complained about the product’s smell.

Residents also cited health concerns in their efforts to stop the material’s local application.

“We want to be good neighbors,” said Steve Clouse, a technical services director for SAWS. “We heard their issues [and] I don’t think we could ever get it to where the community would be satisfied.”

SAWS started the program about two years ago, applying the fertilizer to farms in Guadalupe and Wilson counties, Clouse said.

It provided SAWS with a more economical way to dispose of the sludge — treated human waste — produced by its wastewater plants.

By treating it with bacteria, the sludge can be turned into a commercial-grade fertilizer. That saved SAWS about $300,000 a year over the cost of putting the sludge in a landfill.

And it saved farmers money since SAWS delivered and applied the material at no charge.

Clouse said this material can be more beneficial to the soil than other commercial fertilizers.

“It’s perfect for the soil around here,” he said.

A problem arose, however, when a farm in Atascosa County was considered as a potential site for the fertilizer. Residents who live in the area mounted a campaign to get the application of the fertilizer banned.

In August, they asked Wilson County commissioners to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the use of treated human waste as a fertilizer. The commissioners were unable to help the residents because they are limited in their ability to enact ordinances.

The residents then met with Clouse in October to express their concerns about the product.

On Dec. 18, the SAWS board decided to stop the production of the class B material.

“It will never be odor free,” Clouse said Friday. “Our goal was to be equal to, or less than, odors from other agricultural activities in the area.”

SAWS will not completely abandon the use of treated sludge. Instead it will process the sludge further and add wood chips to it to produce residential-quality compost, Clouse said. .
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