Industrial and commercial facilities that deal with organic products from agriculture will typically generate wastewater that is composed of nutrients such as BOD, nitrogen and phosphorus in the same general proportions that algae require to grow. These include food producers such as dairies, breweries, wineries and meat processors; animal operations; biofuel manufacturing (ethanol and biodiesel); and landfills.

Lower Surcharge Fees

For facilities that are connected to sewer systems, their nutrients may be treated by downstream municipalities. However, customers that are in this situation may have to pay surcharge fees based on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and BOD that they discharge into the sewers. These fees can often range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per year. Our system immediately saves them money while helping them to meet their corporate and social responsibility goals. We can also save them on tipping fees they may pay to landfill or otherwise dispose of their waste streams.

Meet Stricter Regulations

Facilities that discharge directly to waterways, as opposed to sewer systems are responsible for obtaining their own environmental permits and the installation of onsite treatment systems. With stricter limits on nutrient discharge, these customers will need to install new or additional equipment and incur higher operating costs. Our process saves them money compared to alternative technologies with a simpler to manage and frequently safer to operate system.

Centrate Treatment

One part of the treatment process for municipal systems is called centrate, which may contain 25% of the nutrients in only 1% of the plant's total flow. Nutrients removed at this point can save on overall capital and operating costs of nutrient treatment at the plant. Centrate treatment is an opportunity for major improvements in municipal treatment costs.

Industries

The following types of wastewater have been successfully tested with our process: