Aeration Benefits of QuikSoil®

For years composters have expounded the virtues of oxygen and the need for lots of aeration produced either by blowers in stationary systems or by mechanical agitation - "turning", in windrow systems. However, credible, published studies indicate that turning has little value as an aeration source. In fact, the studies show that oxygen from turning is used up in 4 hours or less, yet the materials don't stop composting after that oxygen is exhausted. They compost quite happily during the week or two week intervals between those turns. Several studies do show that turning speeds up the process - not because of oxygen, but because every turn is similar to an additional shredding or grinding, effectively downsizing the material. This downsizing looks good, but has the negative impact of making materials appear more finished than they really are - and think of all the fuel that's burned! Wouldn't it be great if that same or even greater processing speed could be achieved using biological decomposition almost exclusively?

Consider good aerobic topsoil. It may only get aerated once a year - if at all! Yet it retains its aerobic qualities and supports excellent microbial populations and plant growth. Why is this? One reason is the porosity created by different particle sizes of soil, rocks, and roots. Another is the balance of similarly charged ionic minerals in the soil. When mineral particles have like charges, they repel each other, and the repelling action helps cause porosity. The composter attempts to achieve differing particle sizes by shredding and by using different varieties of materials. QuikSoil®2600 duplicates the mineral balance of aerobic soils, creating aeration in compost through cationic (positively charged) cellular unit relationships among minerals, and anionic (negatively charged) cellular unit relationships among certain vitamins and minerals. Imagine dropping a group of positively charged iron shavings into a bowl of dirt. The shavings would push away from each other, and in the process the dirt would be moved and aerated.

This quality allows composters to greatly reduce external aeration activities. This can mean less electricity to operate aeration pumps or blowers, or less diesel fuel to operate row turners.

In fact, most of our clients only turn materials two to four times during the entire process. As the price of diesel climbs, fuel savings alone can justify the use of QuikSoil® 2600.