THE FOLLOWING IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE ESTIMATE FOR AN EXAMPLE BODY OF WATER
COST ESTIMATES — Calculated in 2011.
This cost estimate exercise was done for the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY.
The example given here is only to give a possible estimate if bokashi mudballs, as well as, if Activated EM (AEM) were also included in the calculations. The calculations below are for a bokashi mudball version without bokashi bran and without the additional 5% blackstrap molasses to the amount of AEM.
The Gowanus Canal is chosen here since it is a known, heavily polluted body of water in Brooklyn, New York.
This is not to encourage anyone to proceed with throwing mudballs into the Gowanus. The Gowanus Canal is a Superfund site (since 2010), which means that the EPA is responsible for the cleanup of the contamination in the canal. Therefore, any attempts to try and treat the canal would require the involvement and permission of the EPA, as well as, by its community and the groups and associations that are involved in the restoration of the Gowanus Canal and its surroundings.
This example cost estimate shows how doing larger areas, say, 10 times the size of the Gowanus, that is, 1 million mudballs, is doable -- just multiply the mudballs estimates below by 10 for million mudballs.
Cost Estimate Example for Gowanus Canal
Gowanus size.
length: 1.8 mile (9,504 ft)
width: 100 feet
depth: 20 feet
[source: http://www.charactersofgowanus.com?p=37 ]
Surface area (length x width): 950,400 sq ft (105,600 sq yd, or 88,295 sq.meter)
Water volume (length x width x depth): 19,008,000 cu.ft. (122,193,156 gallons)
Mudballs estimates [$3,000].
at 1 mudball per square meter => 88,295 mudballs minimum
Perhaps set goal of 100,000 mudballs for first year.
Costs: $0.0095/mudball (ingredients only)
(assumed average mudball size is about the size of a baseball)
To make 100,000 mudballs.
Total liquids: 285 gallons (EM•1 + blackstrap molasses + water)
EM•1: 14 gallons, $864.
blackstrap molasses: 14 gallons, $210.
bokashi: 853 lbs (assuming using free materials; if purchasing wheat bran, $674, adds $0.0067 per mudball => $0.0163/mudball)
dirt: 3,412 lbs (assuming using free materials)
total ingredients cost: $1,074.
total ingredients cost with wheat bran: $1,748
Other costs: approx. $1,000 (including fermentation tank 300-gal capacity, hoses, etc.)
water: ? (need about 260 gallons of water, and additional few gallons for rinsing/cleaning => 280 gallons of water may be used)
labor: ? (volunteers?, staff from community groups/organizations?)
location(s) for storage: ? --for fermentation tank and mudballs (provided by city or offered by local organizations, etc.?)
Total Min. mudballs cost: $2,074
Total Min. mudballs cost with wheat bran: $2,748
=> $3,000 (for 100,000 mudballs)
Optional - If also applying just the liquid microbes, Activated EM (AEM).
1st year.
1st application: 1,222 gal. of AEM (at 15 gallons AEM/1.5 million gallons of water (MGW))
EM•1: 56 gallons, $2,800.
blackstrap molasses: 56 gallons, $350.
total ingredients cost 1st application: $3,150.
Monthly maintenance application (from 2nd month): 244 gal. of AEM (at 3 gallons AEM/1.5 MGW)
EM•1: 12 gallons, $692.
blackstrap molasses: 12 gallons, $168.
total ingredients cost maintenance: $860./month; $9,460. 1st yr.
total 1st year cost (AEM liquid only): $12,610.
Additional costs: $2,000 (3 more 300-gal fermentation tanks, hoses, etc.)
1st year costs: $14,610 AEM + $3,000 mudballs = $17,610.
=> $18,000 grand total (mudballs + AEM, 1st year).
From 2nd year on.
monthly maintenance application: 244 gal. of AEM (at 3 gallons AEM/1.5 MGW)
total 2nd year on, maintenance cost: $860/month; $10,320/year
Note. maintenance amount would stay the same as long as inflow source of wastewater is not addressed or improved.
Total bokashi mudballs + AEM (from 2nd year).
Mudballs: $3,000/year (100,000 mudballs per year)
AEM liquid: $10,320
Grand total: $13,320 => $14,000/year from 2nd year. (if same wastewater inflow source)
Over 10 years: $144,000
Other costs not considered here: periodic water quality testing costs.