State Data
Confidence in data for this state:
MODERATELY HIGH
2018 data unless noted.
Definitions
Terms used on this website and in data sets are defined & discussed here.
Biosolids compost windrows at Eastern Compost facility. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
Autothermal thermophilic aerobic digester at Camp Lejeune AWWTF. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
Trailers of dewatered biosolids from Raleigh’s NRRRF on the way to McGill Environmental for composting. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
Biosolids application farm operated by the City of Raleigh at its NRRRF. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
Entrance to biosolids land application farm owned and operated by Public Works Commission of Fayetteville, NC. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
Belt dryers at Cary’s Western Wake Regional WRF. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
Offsite biosolids receiving bin in construction (now operating) with multiple hearth SSI behind, at Rocky River WRF in Concord, owned and operated by Water & Sewer Authority of Cabarrus Co. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
Rotary drum biosolids dryer at South Cary WRF.
Class B biosolids application at Granville Farms. Photo courtesy Bob Forbes, P.E., Jacobs.
State Statistics Dashboard
Septage pumped per year graph by NC DEQ, 2019.
Organics composted in 2018, from NC DEQ, 2019.
State Summary
● North Carolina has abundant agriculture, and the majority of biosolids generated in North Carolina is beneficially used as soil amendment on agricultural lands. Communities providing these mostly Class B biosolids include (in approximate decreasing order of tonnages applied): Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, with lesser significant amounts from Cape Fear, Shelby, Fayetteville, Cary, Burlington, and Durham. Many water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) contract with biosolids management companies or environmental service providers for land application. Synagro manages land application for dozens of WRRFs; there are many smaller, local services as well, such as EMA Resources. Granville Farms, in Oxford, is a big destination for biosolids for land application, receiving ~16,000 dry metric tons in 2018.
● Class A, mostly EQ, biosolids are produced at a dozen or more WRRFs through various methods including composting (Morganton, Hickory, Goldsboro), heat drying (Cary, Winston-Salem), advanced alkaline stabilization (Morehead City), autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) (West Brunswick Regional WWTF, Camp Lejeune AWWTF). Two separate preparers compost biosolids: McGill Environmental Systems, a large, regional producer of soil blends with two facilities in NC, and Eastern Compost, a smaller facility that mostly land applies its biosolids compost on farmland it owns.
● North Carolina has four operating sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs), in Greensboro, Asheville (Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County), High Point, and Concord. Ash from Concord’s SSI has been used as landfill ADC and in brick manufacturing.
● Biosolids in North Carolina are regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ), Division of Water Resources, which issues NPDES permits and administers comprehensive biosolids rules for facility and site permitting. Septage and fats, oils, and grease (FOG) are regulated by the DEQ Division of Waste Management. All biosolids land appliers and effluent spray irrigators must be trained and state-certified.
● Charlotte Water - the largest water utility in the Carolinas - owns and operates five WRRFs, ranging in capacity from 12 to 64 MGD, and serving over 1.1 million people. Anaerobically digested biosolids from Charlotte Water’s WRRFs are land applied in North and South Carolina through a contract with Synagro. Charlotte Water is considering thermal hydrolysis to produce Class A EQ biosolids in the future, to open more options for beneficial use. As of 2022, Charlotte Water is in the design phase for upgrading its largest WRRF (McAlpine Creek) to become a regional facility.
● In the capital region, Raleigh’s Neuse River Resource Recovery Facility is the state’s largest single WRRF, with a 75 MGD capacity. Biosolids from NRRRF - and some from other facilities - are anaerobically digested and dewatered, before leaving the facility gates for one of four destinations: Class B land application at Granville Farms and municipal land; onsite pasteurization and lime treatment for Class A land application; to McGill Environmental for composting; or to the Sampson County landfill. As of 2022, NRRRF is installing a thermal hydrolysis process (THP) as part of upgrades to increase bio-energy recovery (due to be completed in 2023).
● In Cary, near Raleigh, two facilities have advanced nutrient removal systems and biosolids dryers (Western Wake Regional and South Cary), and treat solids from other facilities in the area. The final Class A EQ pelletized product from the South Cary WRF is sold to the public as “Enviro Gems” fertilizer or land applied at Granville Farms. Western Wake Regional’s EQ biosolids are applied on agricultural land.
● Durham has two Water Reclamation Facilities and land applies biosolids as soil amendment on non-food crops at nearby farms.
● Goldsboro is located in the “nutrient sensitive” Neuse River basin and has progressive systems for biosolids and nutrient management at its Water Reclamation Facility. Nitrogen is removed through a biological treatment process, and treated effluent flows into 42 acres of constructed wetlands to be further “polished” of nutrients. Dewatered biosolids are composted at the city’s in-vessel composting facility. The final screened compost and mulch are sold to customers and wholesalers, in bags or bulk: $2 per cubic yd mulch, $15 per cubic yd wholesale, $4 per 30 lb bag retail.
● Septage is regulated by NC DEQ. Anyone pumping, installing, or inspecting septic tanks must be licensed by the North Carolina Septic Tank Association. Most septage is land applied; WRRFs accept septage, so do some separate preparers, such as composters. For example, Earth Farms (Charlotte area) and Craven Ag Services (New Bern) both compost septage and FOG. Earth Farms was acquired by Wind River Environmental in 2016, along with two other NC septage service providers.
● In the late 2010s, North Carolina researchers concerned with findings of PFAS in the environment, including in the Cape Fear River, turned some attention on a few farm areas where biosolids have been land applied. PFAS refers to a family of perfluorinated chemicals that have gained considerable public and regulatory attention in recent years. They are found widely dispersed in the environment and in nearly every wastewater and biosolids that have been tested. Their potential risks to human health and their fate and transport in biosolids, soils, plants, groundwater, and animals are being researched. PFAS have been manufactured in North Carolina, and some North Carolina industries, such as carpet manufacturing, have likely used large quantities of some PFAS, so PFAS will likely be a concern in the state in the coming years, and biosolids programs are monitoring developments.