Introduction: In the recent few decades the overuse of chemical fertilizers has led to pollution of water, air, and soil. Agriculture has found a new way to renew the fertility of the soil with a sustainable way of farming with the use of compost made from biodegradable waste. Through the composting process the number of pathogen microorganism that could become a health risk for people decrease. Purpose: We want to find out the number of different species of microorganisms in compost from biodegradable waste in different stages of composting with special reference to bacteria E. coli and Salmonella. Methods: Through compost plant of the company Simbio, we were monitoring a batch of composting pile composting for 24 weeks and took overall 80 samples of compost for microbiological examination and 160 samples for physical-chemical analysis. With microbiological examinations of compost, we were counting colonies on bacteria growth medium for different species of microorganisms. We were also monitoring physical-chemical parameters of compost (temperature, pH value, dry matter content, and the content of nitrites and nitrates). Results: Initiative mesophilic phase was short. We were able to capture it in the first week of composting where E. coli was found in 2 out of 10 samples of compost. Salmonella was not detected in the mesophilic phase. The thermophilic phase of composting lasts until the 18th week of composting. In this phase, the average number of all tested microorganisms decreased but rose again due to watering composting pile with compost leachate water in the fifth week of composting. The highest average number of species E. coli was in the 11th week of composting (4.9 log CFU/g). Bacteria Salmonella was also not detected in the thermophilic phase. The phase of cooling and maturation lasts from the 18th until the 24th week of composting. In this phase, we detected bacteria E. coli in 8 of 10 samples of compost in the 24th week of composting with the average number 4.5 log CFU/g. Salmonella was additionally detected in the 24th week of composting in 3 of 10 samples of compost. Discussion and conclusion: The hypothesis that limiting values of E. coli and the presence of Salmonella in the samples of compost will not be consistent with the Regulation (2013) can be partially confirmed. We were comparing the results from the 18th and 24th week of composting because we predicted the conclusion of composting process at the end of the 18th week of composting. The number of E. coli and the presence of Salmonella in compost at the 18th week of composting were consistent with the norms, which means that this compost can be classified as the first and the second quality class. At the 24th week of composting, a number of bacteria E. coli and the presence of species Salmonella exceeded the norms from the Regulation (2013). Compost batch from 24th week of composting cannot be classified as the first or the second quality class. Regarding the 24th week of composting, compost is not suitable for the use in agriculture and is handled in accordance with adequate waste regulation.
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