Patent ID: 7005068

Claim:
A method for treating wastewater comprising the steps of: providing a source of wastewater that comprises animal feces with at least one organic carbon component at least a portion of which is an insoluable solid and a nitrogenous waste; introducing the wastewater into an inlet of a clarifier, said clarifier having a substantially open top, a top edge, and a bottom; clarifying the wastewater to at least partially separate the wastewater into a clear water portion at or near the top edge of the clarifier and wherein the solids are at least partially concentrated into a solids portion at or near the bottom of the clarifier; removing at least a part of the clear water portion to a lagoon for nitrification and/or denitrification and/or a biological reduction of carbon, wherein the removal is a flow of the clear water over said top edge of the clarifier; moving at least a part of the solids portion to an anaerobic digester for treatment, said digester containing at least one anaerobic culture, wherein said at least one culture reduces the organic content of the solids portion and produces a biogas comprised of methane and/or carbon dioxide and/or hydrogen sulfide; and moving at least a portion of the wastewater from the anaerobic digester that has undergone an anaerobic digestion to said lagoon for a further treatment.