NUTREACT
Eutrophication tackled
NUTREACT is a sustainable approach for eutrophic surface waters. The removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from the water column proactively addresses problems such as blue-green algae.
Nutrients, and in particular phosphorus (P), are significant factors of the water quality in lakes and ponds. A common problem in eutrophic lakes is the excessive load of P in the form of total phosphorus and especially the rapidly accessible ortho-phosphate. The latter is used by the blue-green algae for growth. The algal growth in high densities degrades the water quality, the aesthetics and kills the aquatic biota due to low dissolved oxygen (DO), high ammonia concentrations and toxins production.
The dominance of cyanobacteria is attributed to the low TN:TP ratio, as all species of cyanobacteria are better able to compete for nitrogen than other phytoplankton when N is scarce. For TN:TP ratios lower than 22:1, the cyanobacteria growth is favored. When excessive P loading creates a surplus supply of phosphorus, N becomes relatively scarce and cyanobacteria are predicted to become dominant.
Phosphorus release may originate from sediments that contain accumulated P, or from external loadings. The internal loading (i.e. P accumulate in sediments) can be so severe that it can degrade the water quality. The recovery period from high P-loadings depends on the loading history and it may last for decades.
Ponds or lakes with P concentration more than 0,16 mg/L are characterized as highly eutrophic. A concentration of 10 μg/L is referred as a limit under which the cyanobacteria have difficulty to grow.
The problem
The solution
Nutreact is a method developed by Avecom for extracting nutrients from surface water. Problems such as blue-green algae, floating and filamentous algae and overgrowth of aquatic plants are often a direct result of an excess of nutrients in the water. Many blue-green algae control methods only tackle the algae and do nothing about this underlying problem of eutrophication, so that the problem is not solved.
Nutreact actually removes the nutrients from the water and does not use chemicals such as iron or aluminum chloride. Instead, we use a bioreactor with selected micro-organisms to directly bind nitrogen and phosphorus and remove it from the water. The water circulates over the reactor. So it is not necessary to put anything in the water. This is a big advantage!
There are a number of important reasons to use our application:
- Nutrients are actually removed from the water.
- No additives to the water.
- There is no need to use chemicals.
- Blue-green algae are tackled at source, as it were starved. The same applies in many cases to e.coli bacteria.
- Nutreact creates the conditions for ecological recovery.
- Nutreact is a sustainable method.
We are happy to help!
Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
sales@avecom.be ; +32 9 375 17 14
Avecom nv | Industrieweg 122P 9032 Wondelgem Belgium
sales@avecom.be | +32 9 375 17 14