hi Pete,

I refer to your proposal made under a different thread where you propose with regard to A&A Worm Farm Waste Systems:

I’m hoping to interview them for the podcast as we have mutual friends. Let me know what you want to know and I’ll ask the questions...

Because I suspected that some of the questions may not be appropriate for an on-air interview, I tried to contact you and Alan for discussing how to deal with this, once for you getting a lively interview and us on the forum getting satisfactory answers to possibly very detailed questions. Unfortunately, I did not get a response. Thus let's see how it works with the questions to A&A posted here.

1. We know that the worms reproduce related to the available food. Do you never have the case, that the waste (from kitchen and/or garden) is too much for them and they are virtually choked under the overload? If it can happen, how will the user notice and what can he do?
2. The 'platform' which separates the solids from the fluids underneath seems being a sieve with openings too small for the waste but big enough for the worm cast to fall through. You never had the case that the 'sieve' got clogged either by waste or by accumulated worm cast? But if so, how to deal with it as the tank seems not being accessible?
3. Worm cast and worm eggs are falling into the sump and will be pumped out. One purpose is that the septic tank is actually self-emptying and solids (worm cast) have never to be removed from the top. If correct, you never faced the case that worm cast was building up in the tank?
4. Has it been noticed and/or checked whether human excreta fall straight into the sump without being digested by the worms?
5. The worm cast and worm eggs contribute to the value of the effluent as irrigation water through subsurface drip irrigation. How do you ensure that these solids do not settle in the pipes or block the openings?
6. It is said the systems can provide primary and secondary treatment. The tank seems being the primary treatment. What does the secondary treatment looks like?

As not all forum users will be glued to your pod cast listening to the answers, what is the way getting the answers into a post here on the forum?
Further, it would be appreciated if you can get Alan/Worm Waste subscribing to the forum and being available for further queries. With thousands of systems installed, he is an important promoter of vermitechnology and surely we can learn much more from his experience.

curious to see what happens,
ciao
Hajo