Would the accounting use of the term sludge be relevant here?

[edit] dispute tag

Biosolids is term used to fool the public and farmers. The wastewater industry does not want anyone searching for the early history of sludge studies which show there is no current process to kill pathogens. Composting dissicates bacteria until mositure is again present to revive them. Salmonella and E. coli are known to survive on pasture land for over 70 weeks. While chemical may not have a harmful effect on animals, they may have a harmful effect on the first and second generations. The scientific studies did not consider infection of animals to be a problem. Spreading Sewage Sludge on U.S. Fields, Hidden Cause of Food Safety Problems http://hartkeisonline.com/2009/08/21/spreading-sewage-sludge-on-us-fields-hidden-cause-of-food-safety-problems/ Jim Bynum (talk) 18:48, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

This article is a one-sided affair with virtually no sourcing and an absurd, bolded screamer to go to a one-sided website for info. Compare to biosolids. Merge or cleanup? Mdbrownmsw 18:47, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

(Copied from biosolids talk) Not a bad idea. I would rename sewage sludge treatment to just sewage sludge then merge in sludge and make sludge a disamb to include industrial sludge, water treatment sludge, etc. I would leave biosolids as a separate article due to the political and social aspects it has that are not shared by sludges that are not distributed as CFR 503 biosolids. --Justanother 04:41, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

it is still there!--Stone (talk) 21:27, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] SledgeHammer

[edit] Merge?

The lead sentence of biosolids says it's another word for sludge. Can we merge? ike9898 (talk) 15:34, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

• I think the two should be merged. There should be no question in the minds of readers that biosolids is the greenwashing term for sewage sludge. Karen Feridun, United Sludge-Free Alliance —Preceding unsigned comment added by 260 West (talk • contribs) 17:21, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

• Support. Both articles refer to the same substance. Katana0182 (talk) 01:52, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Ok, I think enough time has passed without any objections to a merge being raised. I'll try to work on this later, but if you are interested and motivated to work on this merge, be my guest. ike9898 (talk) 17:49, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

No, no no!!! Do not do this. "Biosolids" are a special class of sludge!!! Sludges are present in various forms in the sewage treatment process. The end result may be a sludge that has recently been called "biosolids". However sludges arise in all sorts of other industries, whereas biosolids arise in only one! For a start, "biosolids" are always biological, whereas "sludge" often is not biotic at all!
If you want to have "biosolids" as a separate sub-section (within a section on sewage sludges), then I would support it. Remember, the article title says it is about "sludge" in general.
—DIV (128.250.247.158 (talk) 01:49, 21 August 2009 (UTC))

The biosolid term is commonly accepted to be a term of 'art' used to depict sewage sludge as something less toxic than it is. It is not acceptable to dispose of on agricultural fields, unless the toxics are removed. Even if biosolids are a special class, that's not enough reason to keep it as a separate article, they should be merged, and biosolids redirect to sewage sludge. I agree that there are multiple classes of sludge, so there may be a case for sewage sludge being an article distinct from sludge, with sludge being the disambiguation page including slag (leftovers from steel production), coal sludge (leftovers from coal combustion) Watchpup (talk) 17:24, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

I can add the argument that yes biosolids are sludge but it is usually after treatment. i have talked to someone that workes at one of the sewage treatment plants and they refer it as sludge until it is ready to be sold and used on farms. The main different i can think of between biosolids and sludge in a sewage plant is the addition of lime. They add lime to the sludge they remove so that it is basically nutrients. this is then sold as biosolids —Preceding unsigned comment added by Griffj91 (talk • contribs) 17:49, 11 October 2009 (UTC)