A pig farm recently established by Great Wall Enterprise Co. Ltd. in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County employs pig barn lavatories to separate waste products and produce organic fertilizer.
Solid and liquid waste are separated, with urine being drained off and recycled, while solid waste is automatically transferred to a conveyor belt that transports it to a central compost fermentation silo where it becomes organic fertilizer.
Great Wall Vice President Zeng Tian-fu said his company has adopted a three-step pig feeding management system based on U.S. models. The pig lavatories that have been constructed take into consideration the habits of pigs.
The lavatories are located behind the pens, with slats at the bottom with gaps between them. Workers cover the surrounding area with a thin layer of feed, which deters the pigs from soiling areas anywhere other than the lavatories. The pigs catch on to the basic idea in two days, and after a longer period know where to head when they feel the urge.
Workers admitted that there are occasionally pigs that do not get the concept. When a pig uses the wrong place, they will give it a spanking, but ultimately they will still have to clean up the area.
Zeng said pig lavatories have been in use in Taiwan for many years, but Great Wall has gone a step further by developing equipment that separates liquid and solid waste. He said solid waste that is free of urine will not generate ammonia and therefore will not be malodorous.
The solid waste is transported via a conveyor belt to a compost silo, and the company ultimately gives the organic fertilizer to farmers, Zeng explained. Urine and other wastewater are purified and then reused, ensuring that none is released into the environment. Zeng added that these zero-pollution facilities can reduce water usage by some 90 percent.
Pingtung County Magistrate Tsao Chi-hung commented that there are some 100,000 pigs being raised in Yanpu and Jiuru, townships in the upstream areas of the Wannian River. Each pig generates the waste equivalent of six persons, which means the volume of waste produced is equal to 600,000 people.
Tsai said traditional pig farms use a three-step process to treat pig waste, but admitted that the method has not been successful, adding that the pig lavatories employed by Great Wall are the most advanced he has seen. He remarked that the county government is considering providing subsidies to pig farmers to install the environmentally friendly facilities.
