Suffolk, Va.-The Hampton Roads Sanitation District and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. have completed installation of the second fully operational recovery facility – and the first along the Chesapeake Bay watershed – that extracts phosphorus and other nutrients from wastewater treatment systems and turns them into a high quality fertilizer. Unveiling of what is officially called the Struvite Recovery Facility took place May 27 at HRSD’s Nansemond treatment plant here, featuring environmentalist and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is an Ostara board member. Developed by Ostara, this nutrient recovery technology, trademarked “Pearl,” enhances operational efficiency while producing a beneficial fertilizer product. HRSD will offset the cost by producing Crystal Green fertilizer, which will be marketed by Ostara. Ostara describes Crystal Green as a slow-release formula that ensures that nutrients are absorbed by plants, reducing fertilizer runoff and pollution of the Bay’s fragile ecosystem. The Ostara process has been operating at a commercial scale since May 2009 at the Clean Water Services’ Durham advanced wastewater treatment facility in Tigard, Ore., and is currently being pilot-tested at several wastewater treatment facilities in North America and Europe.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain