UNIVERSITY PLACE — Thanks to the thousands of visitors who came to the U.S. Open, Tacoma will be able to replenish its supply of popular potting soil. The secret ingredient? Human waste.
KOMO-TV reports that the city of Tacoma has been making the plant mix, called TAGRO, since 1992. Workers treat human excrement with high temperatures and use bacteria to break it down into organic matter before adding sand, bark and sawdust.
With the warm weather, Pierce County ran out of the soil.
But Tacoma wastewater operations division manager Dan Thompson says the influx of waste from the Open should translate to more product than usual. TAGRO will be back on shelves Monday.
