How to Extract Potassium Nitrate From Soil

Preparing the Pile

• 1

  Put sheets of plywood down where the pile of manure is to go. The plywood will prevent the liquid that you pour over the pile from going back into the soil.

• 2

  Mound the pile of manure over the top of the plywood. The pile can be as high as 6 or 7 feet.

• 3

  Mix green materials -- such as leaves and grass clippings -- and straw into the pile to increase its porosity and oxygen flow. Up to half of the pile can be green materials.

• 4

  Build a protective structure around the pile. Stack rows of cinder blocks in a staggered pattern on either side of the pile to form the side walls. Spread a tarp over the top to act as a roof. Place an additional row of cinder blocks to hold the tarp down. The structure will protect the pile from wind and rain.

• 5

  Pour cows' urine -- or the urine of other farm animals -- over the pile. You will need to add urine at least once per week for up to four months to extract the potassium nitrate.

Extracting the Potassium Nitrate

• 6

  Scrape the yellow crust off of the top of the pile with a shovel. The crust is the potassium nitrate crystals forming on the pile's surface. The crystals will form after months of pouring urine over the top of the pile.

• 7

  Place alternating layers of wood ash and cloth onto the bottom of a bucket with holes in the bottom. Start with a layer of cloth. Add a thin layer of ash over the cloth, and then add another layer of cloth. The cloth and wood ash will act as a filter.

• 8

  Put the crusted material into the bucket with a shovel. Gloves should be worn. Fill about three-quarters full. Place the bucket onto two cinder block set apart the width of the bucket so that the liquid that runs through can be collected underneath.

• 9

  Boil 2 gallons of water.

• 10

  Place collection pan under bucket. Pour boiling water over the top of the material in bucket.

• 11

  Place the collected liquid into black plastic or metal buckets so that the excess water can evaporate. The resulting salts and residue left behind will be potassium nitrate.