$10M Prize in Fight Against Algae
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Business
An Ohio-based lawn and garden company will be the presenting sponsor of a $10 million prize that will be awarded to the team that finds the best way to remove an algae-feeding nutrient from water.
Phosphorus discharge feeds toxic algae.
Algal blooms are sadly the new norm for Lake Erie, Source: Environmental Defence
The Everglades Foundation's George Barley Water Prize seeks ways to remove phosphorus from fresh water using technology. It must work in warm and cold environments and on large and small scales.
The winner will be named by 2020 and receive $10 million to commercialize the idea.
Toledo's 2014 water crisis caused by a toxic-algae bloom in Lake Erie prompted the Everglades Foundation to fast-track the rollout of its George Barley Water Prize — $10 million to the team with the best idea for removing excess phosphorus, the nutrient that toxic algae feed on, from water.
"What spurred us to move quicker was what happened in Toledo," said Eric Eikenberg, chief executive of the Everglades Foundation, referring to the shutdown of the drinking-water system there.
"That's outrageous. We can do better."
Eikenberg's group found a partner in the effort in Marysville-based Scotts Miracle-Gro. The lawn and garden company will be the presenting sponsor of the Barley Prize, and Scotts, through its foundation, has donated more than $1 million to the Everglades Foundation.
The donation and sponsorship is something that Scotts would not have done a decade or so ago, said Jim King, Scotts spokesman and president of the Scotts Foundation. At that time, phosphorus was commonly used in its products.
"If you are always arguing if your product is good or bad for the environment, it doesn't matter if you are right," King said. "It is a bad stance to have to take."
Scotts in recent years not only has removed phosphorus from its lawn fertilizers but also is phasing out neonicotinoids from its Ortho pest-control products and has taken up improving water quality and conservation as companywide goals.
The Barley Prize seeks a technological solution to remove phosphorus from bodies of fresh water. It must work in warm and cold environments and on large and small scales.
Read more at: The Columbus Dispatch and US News
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