Features and Benefits
HydroMentia’s treatment technologies are designed not only to remove nutrients from water, but also to recover those nutrients in harvestable plant or algal biomass. This biomass recovery step is central to the long-term sustainability of managed aquatic plant and attached-algae treatment systems.
In Algal Turf Scrubber® (ATS) systems, algae grow on engineered flowways and assimilate nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, and other constituents into harvestable biomass. Routine harvesting removes that biomass from the treatment system, exports the recovered nutrients from the water column, and maintains the algal community in a productive growth stage. This combination of biological uptake and periodic harvesting supports high areal productivity, reliable nutrient recovery, and long-term water-quality improvement.
Biomass Recovery and Products
The harvested biomass from managed aquatic plant systems can create opportunities for beneficial reuse, depending on the source water, biomass composition, regulatory requirements, and local markets. Potential end-product pathways include container media, compost, soil amendments, animal feed applications, anaerobic digestion, and other forms of nutrient or organic-matter recovery.
The most common and practical end-product pathway has historically been compost or soil amendment production. In appropriate applications, harvested biomass can contribute organic matter and recovered nutrients to land-based uses, helping close the nutrient cycle rather than simply transferring nutrients to a waste stream.
HydroMentia’s experience includes biomass harvesting, handling, recovery, and evaluation from pilot-scale and full-scale treatment systems. Because biomass characteristics vary by project, each end-product opportunity must be evaluated based on water source, treatment objectives, contaminant profile, permitting requirements, processing needs, and local demand.
By combining water treatment with recoverable biomass production, HydroMentia’s technologies provide a practical platform for nutrient removal, resource recovery, and sustainable water-quality management.