Suwannee River Water Management District Contracts with HydroMentia

Ocala, Florida (May, 2008)

The Suwannee Water River Management District has contracted with HydroMentia Inc. to conduct a pilot study of the Algal Turf Scrubber® technology on the Santa Fe River in Alachua County, Florida.

The pilot will be located on Boston Farms, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) research facility located in Alachua County, Florida. The Santa Fe River, which discharges downstream to the Suwannee River, will serve as a test case to evaluate the Algal Turf Scrubber® as a potential solution for nitrogen and phosphorus reduction in the Suwannee River.

The Algal Turf Scrubber® provides a potential solution to the unique challenges associated with nitrogen contaminated groundwater which impacts the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers. While on-farm Best Management Practices reduce the rate that nitrogen and phosphorus pollution enters these rivers through groundwater contamination and surface water runoff, BMPs alone are not capable of re- storing these valuable water resources. Through direct treatment of these surface waters, the Algal Turf Scrubber® technology can reduce the impacts associated with polluted groundwater discharges that are expected to continue in the Suwannee River watershed for decades.

The year-long pilot study consisting of two Algal Turf Scrubber® pilot systems running in parallel will quantify nitrogen and phosphorus removal rates from the direct treatment of the Santa Fe River.

The IFAS research team will independently evaluate the ATS™ technology specific to Santa Fe River conditions, and HydroMentia and IFAS project members will coordinate investigations to optimize treatment performance.

About HydroMentia, Inc.

HydroMentia, Inc. designs, builds and operates innovative, cost-effective, managed aquatic plant treatment systems for pollution control and water restoration in agricultural, industrial and urban applications. The Algal Turf Scrubber® is a proprietary technology available exclusively through HydroMentia, Inc. HydroMentia owns numerous patents and intellectual property. Its head office is in Ocala, Florida. For more information about HydroMentia, Inc., go to www.hydromentia.com