Livestock wastewater generation and farm management: the gap analysis

The livestock industry increased significantly globally due to increasing demand for animal products. There are however, growing concerns on the environmental risks, associated with the disposal of untreated livestock wastewater into streams and rivers. This paper aims at studying the pollutant levels in livestock wastewater and its effect on the environment. Samples of undiluted livestock wastewater were collected every week for ten weeks from two farms within the Universiti Putra Malaysia and tested for various water quality parameters. The average values of pollutants tested for, were: pH 6.88, COD 2839 mg L^-1, BOD 597 mg L^-1, TSS 703 mg L^-1, TDS 419 mg L^-1, color 6019 PtCo, turbidity 308 NTU, microbes 3×10⁹ CFU 100 mL^-1 and NH₃-N 180 mg L^-1, for dairy wastewater, and pH 7.11, COD 2910 mg L^-1, BOD 243 mg L^-1, TSS 246 mg
L^-1, TDS 226 mg L^-1, color 373 PtCo, turbidity 35 NTU, microbes 1.7×10⁶ CFU 100 mL^-1 and NH₃-N 10 mg L^-1 for fish pond. These results exceed the effluent discharge standards stated by Environmental Quality Act 1974 and therefore unsuitable for discharge into water streams without prior treatment. Since most rural population depend on groundwater sources for daily activities, it is therefore recommended to intercept and treat wastewaters before they leave the farm as runoff or ground water infiltration or reused for irrigation.