Portland, Ore.-Clean Water Services, a water resource management utility serving more than 500,000 customers in urban Washington County west of Portland, last month began operating the first commercial system utilizing Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies system, which recovers phosphorus and other nutrients from wastewater and recycles them into high-quality fertilizer. Clean Water spokesman Mark Jockers said the occasion will be marked by a formal opening and unveiling and a media tour attended by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an Ostara board member, on June 10. Jockers said Clean Water anticipates the $2.5 million capital cost of incorporating this technology into its treatment process will be recovered within five years from a combination of cost savings and Crystal Green revenues of approximately $500,000 per year. Cost savings included reduced energy, chemical, and transportation costs. Ostara of Vancouver B.C. describes its Crystal Green fertilizer for park and golf course turf growers, commercial nurseries, and specialty agricultural markets as a slow-release product that creates no greenhouse gas emissions and does not leach into and pollute the water table.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain