diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 02ff5380..49af870a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ python3 manage.py migrate
 python3 manage.py runsslserver
 ```
 
-### Running on docker with docker-compose
+### Running the Backend on docker with docker-compose
 the command below will start a docker container that maps/uses the backend folder
 into the container. It will also start the Django development server with DEBUG=True
 
@@ -56,9 +56,42 @@ into the container. It will also start the Django development server with DEBUG=
 BUILDKIT_PROGRESS=plain docker-compose -f docker-compose-dev.yaml up --build
 ```
 
-to stop:
+### Running the PostgreSQL database with docker-compose
+the command below will start a docker container that runs the PostgreSQL database.
+To use it within your development Django server you need to set the following env vars
+in your launch(file)
+
+```
+USE_PG=True
+DB_HOST=localhost
+DB_PORT=5432
+DB_NAME=composer
+DB_USER=composer
+DB_PASSWORD=composer
+```
+
+To start the database server run this command:
+```
+docker-compose --file docker-compose-db.yaml up --build
+```
+
+to stop the database run this command:
 ```bash
-docker-compose -f docker-compose-dev.yaml down
+docker-compose -f docker-compose-db.yaml down
+```
+
+Example to run the backend using the Docker PostgreSQL database
+```
+cd backend
+
+export USE_PG=True
+export DB_HOST=localhost
+export DB_PORT=5432
+export DB_NAME=composer
+export DB_USER=composer
+export DB_PASSWORD=composer
+
+python ./manage.py runsslserver
 ```
 
 ### Ingest sample NLP data
diff --git a/backend/backend/settings.py b/backend/backend/settings.py
index 7bcb7242..cb9aa67e 100644
--- a/backend/backend/settings.py
+++ b/backend/backend/settings.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
 PRODUCTION = os.environ.get("PRODUCTION", "False").lower() in ("true", "1")
+USE_PG = os.environ.get("USE_PG", "False").lower() in ("true", "1")
 DEBUG = os.environ.get("DEBUG", str(not PRODUCTION)).lower() in ("true", "1")
 
 ALLOWED_HOSTS = [
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@
 
 # Database
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.1/ref/settings/#databases
-if PRODUCTION:
+if PRODUCTION or USE_PG:
     DATABASES = {
         "default": {
             "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql",
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@
 
 USE_I18N = True
 
-USE_TZ = False
+USE_TZ = True
 
 
 # Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
diff --git a/docker-compose-db.yaml b/docker-compose-db.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3f2b557f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose-db.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+version: "3.9"
+services:
+  composer-db:
+    image: postgres:13
+    restart: "on-failure"
+    volumes:
+      - composer-db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+    ports:
+    - "5432:5432"
+    env_file:
+      - .env
+
+volumes:
+  composer-db-data:
+  composer-data: