Draper Valley Farms - Mt. Vernon, Washington

The photo shown to the left is not an O2Compost design. However, this system provided the impetus for me to design the first aerated bin compost system. The Draper Valley Farm system is used to compost chicken mortalities from a 250,000 bird facility. It is simple and elegant in its design, but when the bins were turned, the odors that emanated from the material was overwhelming.

Based on previous experience, I concluded that oxygen was the missing ingredient. Based on this realization, I began to work on my prototype design to test my theory. The photo to the left shows the first 3-bin compost system with air delivered to an aeration plenum and slatted floor in the base of each bin. This test model worked extremely well and became the starting point for what is now the O2Compost Training Program.

Wilcox Farms – Roy, Washington
Chicken manure from 1.2 million egg layers, with hog fuel
In 1998, O2Compost helped Wilcox Farms permit their facility for manure and green waste composting and we converted a large static pile method to an EASP system. They are now producing ~25,000 cubic yards of compost each year and selling nearly all of it.