Algal Turf Scrubber® systems are designed to operate at high hydraulic loading rates while maintaining active attached algal growth and routine biomass harvesting. Because ATS systems combine shallow floway hydraulics with high algal productivity, they can achieve high areal nutrient removal rates compared with many lower-rate passive treatment systems.
Osprey Marsh ATS floway and distribution system. High hydraulic loading and active biomass harvesting allow ATS systems to provide nutrient treatment within a compact engineered footprint.
In stormwater, surface-water restoration, agricultural runoff, and wastewater polishing applications, ATS systems have demonstrated phosphorus removal rates ranging from approximately 200 to more than 1,000 pounds per acre per year and nitrogen removal rates ranging from approximately 500 to more than 8,000 pounds per acre per year, depending on source-water quality, climate, hydraulic loading, harvest frequency, and treatment objectives.
These high areal removal rates can substantially reduce the land area required for nutrient treatment. In selected applications, ATS systems may require only a small fraction of the land area needed for comparable passive wetland treatment systems, making the technology especially useful where land is limited, costly, or needed for other productive uses.
The compact footprint of ATS systems also allows treatment facilities to be integrated into constrained sites, phased regional projects, and hybrid treatment trains that combine active nutrient recovery with downstream ponds, wetlands, or other polishing components.