Top: A snapshot of the Compost Pad Planner web tool shows a scenario featuring 5,000 tons/year, 13 windrows, 3 months retention time, 1.4 acres, triangular piles (12′ base x 6′ tall x 180′ long). Image courtesy Wanu Organics

Wanu Organics has made its innovative Compost Pad Planner web tool available for free to assist composting facilities with pad design. This accessible online resource enables users to quickly generate conceptual composting pad layouts, providing a key first step in designing new or expanded composting facilities. The tool, which can be accessed from any desktop or mobile device, simplifies the initial planning stages for a composting operation. Wanu Organics developed this tool as part of its mission to accelerate the growth and improve the design of composting infrastructure.

The Compost Pad Planner helps users visualize and plan for the different stages of the composting process. By plugging in their numbers, users can generate layouts for all elements of a composting facility operation. “This is a conceptual tool to size various areas of a composting facility quickly,” explains Jorge Montezuma, principal consultant/owner of Wanu Organics. “People can use it to design staging areas, then use it again to design the active composting area, then curing, then storage of overs, and compost. Or it can be utilized to focus on only one area, like the active composting pad. It doesn’t replace facility material throughput calculations. It’s necessary to be familiar with proper material flow through a site to use the tool effectively when putting various layouts together.”  After inputting a facility’s parameters, the planner provides clear visuals, estimates of space requirements, and a downloadable report. Montezuma adds that users must separately account for essential features like road access, stormwater management, truck turnaround areas, equipment maintenance spaces, office, etc.