High quality, affordable compost & mulch helps reduce material in landfills

A partnership between the cities of Temple and Belton and Brazos River Authority is helping promote an environmentally responsible product that reduces material that would otherwise go to a landfill, and also provides a superior product for landscapes and flowerbeds.

Those who live in the central part of the Brazos River basin can easily purchase this high quality and affordable mulch and compost – Tri-Gro. The products can be bought from the Temple-Belton Wastewater Treatment Plant, which started producing Tri-Gro in 1990.

“The most popular product is a compost produced with wood products recycled from area brush collections and wastewater bio-solids,” according to the City of Belton website, which notes that since Tri-Gro is processed at 133 degrees Fahrenheit and higher temperatures, “it is free of weed seeds, plant diseases and pathogens.”

There are numerous benefits that result from the use of Tri-Gro products. The compost provides a rich and longer lasting source of nitrogen for plants, improves the soil condition and helps keep the soil moist longer, which allows you to reduce how often you water. Tri-Gro compost also provides better organic nutrients than commercial fertilizers.

The use of Tri-Gro mulch improves the appearance of flowerbeds, helps reduce weed growth, decreases soil temperatures during hotter weather, insulates plants when temperatures are cooler and can also provide a quality walking surface on paths.

“Tri-Gro makes the soil more pliable, so it’s easier to work,” said Randy Lock, Chief Operator of the Temple-Belton Wastewater Treatment Plant. “There are also micro nutrients in Tri-Gro that you don’t get from a synthetic fertilizer. It’s also good for different types of soil, whether clay or sandy.

“One of the main things people should know is that this is a Class A product approved by the EPA and the TCEQ,” Lock said.

Tri-Gro is defined as “a treated sludge product” which meets Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requirements for use as a soil conditioner and organic fertilizer. However, the BRA recommends not using the products on crops which are intended for human consumption.

Products and the cost are:

• Cull for $4.60 per cubic yard.
• Unscreened compost for $9.20 per cubic yard.
• Native wood mulch for $4.60 per cubic yard.
• Screened compost for $12.99 per cubic yard.
• Cedar mulch for $16.24 per cubic yard.

Cedar mulch is not always available.

The City of Temple website defines cull as “all wood pieces that are removed after the screening process to produce compost materials. It is dark in color and relatively uniform in size.”

At least one cubic yard of the product must be purchased, and Tri-Gro is not sold in bags. The product is loaded by employees of the Temple-Belton plant directly into the bed of your pickup truck.

The compost is available for purchase from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon the first and third Saturdays at the Temple-Belton Wastewater Treatment Plant, 2405 E. 6th Avenue/FM 93 in Belton. The facility is just east of Interstate 35 after the 6th Avenue/FM 93 exit.

For more information, call 254-939-6471.