Intensive livestock production results in the accumulation of solid and liquid wastes. In the mid 1980’s ARM started to investigate ways of dealing with these wastes. We started to learn how to compost the solid wastes, this involved developing a machine to mix different materials. The use of reed beds to treat liquid wastes was brought to our attention by our friends at Birmingham university who had previously got us interested in composting. We constructed a reed bed near to our offices to treat dilute pig slurry and another a few miles away to treat dairy farm dirty water. Reed bed technology at that time was very much in its infancy and our approach was empirical. Our first two reed beds reduced contaminant concentration but not enough to produce an effluent which could be discharged into watercourses.
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