Funding Approved for Algal Turf Scrubber® Pilot In Everglades Agricultural Area

Everglades Agricultural Area (January 2008) – The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board has approved funding for an Algal Turf Scrubber® (ATS™) pilot study using HydroMentia’s Mobile Pilot Unit (MPU) in the Everglades Agricultural Area. The Pilot will run for a period of 12 months.

The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) covers an area of 1,181 square miles, and it is located below the southeastern border of Lake Okeechobee. It is part of the original Everglades wetland which the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers drained for flood control. By the mid-1900s, it was appropriated mainly for farming. Sugar cane is the primary crop grown in the EAA, with relatively smaller crops of vegetables and sod. About half of the cane sugar produced nationally is harvested in the EAA each year. A total of 15 project canals and 25 control structures, which are managed by SFWMD, serve the EAA. Once the contract is finalized, HydroMentia and the District will choose the site for the full-scale Algal Turf Scrubber® system within the EAA.

The Algal Turf Scrubber® technology uses algae to remove nutrient pollutants which are damaging Florida’s fragile ecosystems. Polluted water is pulsed across the Algal Turf Scrubber®’s sloped floway where dense mats of algal turf are cultivated. As the algae grow, they consume carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous, removing these excess nutrients from the water. Routine harvesting keeps the algae in its peak growth stage, maximizing nutrient removal. The harvested algae may be processed into marketable products like organic fertilizer and biofuel. The harvest of plant biomass maintains the system in an accelerated growth phase and provides sustainability as nutrients are continuously recovered and removed from the treatment unit. Using HydroMentia’s technology to remove excess phosphorus and nitrogen from the EAA will improve both the health of the Everglades ecosystem and farming conditions in this area.

About HydroMentia, Inc

HydroMentia, Inc. is a water pollution control company specializing in the design, development and operation of proprietary water treatment technologies. The company’s water treatment technologies offer innovative, cost-effective solutions to restoring and protecting waterways overburdened with nutrient pollutants.

Its team includes scientists and engineers that pioneered the development and application of man- aged aquatic plant based water treatment systems including the use of attached algae. With over sixty years collective experience designing, constructing and operating commercial scale systems, HydroMentia is the only algae-based water treatment company with this depth of experience and knowledge.

Through development of the algae-based Algal Turf Scrubber® technology, HydroMentia has resolved the most critical challenges of large scale algae cultivation: maximizing production and cost-effective harvesting of algae. The result is a technology that provides both water restoration and more cost-effective algae production per unit area than any other commercial scale algae cultivation system.

Founded in 1996, the company is headquartered in Ocala, Florida. For more information please visit our website: https://hydromentia.com