University of Idaho Testing New Water Filtration System on Dairies

A University of Idaho professor who developed technology that removes pollutants from water and saves the nutrients for fertilizer will soon start testing on dairy lagoons

A University of Idaho professor who developed a mobile facility that cleans dirty water and converts the pollutants into fertilizer plans to start testing his experimental technology on dairy lagoons in late-September.

Greg Moller, a professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology, built his demonstration-scale machine — a 40-foot-long, 9-ton filtration system mounted on a trailer — with a $427,000 grant from the Idaho Department of Commerce’s Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission.

Moller explained the machine is an updated version of a technology he pioneered about a decade ago, called reactive filtration water treatment. His original system utilizes a filter of sand coated in iron — which acts as a sponge attracting pollutants and pulling them out of suspension — and has been implemented at municipal water treatment facilities throughout the world, including in three Idaho cities, Plummer, Grangeville and Hayden.

A second version of the technology also treats water with ozone, which sterilizes pathogens including viruses, bacteria, antibiotics and trace organic compounds.

The latest incarnation, called Nutrient-Energy-Water Tech, works by adding a biochar powder treated with iron to water, where it bonds with pollutants. Water is again treated with ozone and then filtered through iron-stained sand. Moller said the biochar, which becomes infused with key agricultural nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen as it cleans, can be converted into pellets to aid in both soil tilth and fertility.

“We’re recovering water so it can be re-used, pulling out nutrients and pollution and addressing food security issues,” Moller said.

Moller said farmers who use biochar could potentially be eligible for future carbon trading credits due to the carbon sequestered in the product.

J.R. Simplot Co. is partnering on the project to evaluate the nutrient-enhanced biochar as a sustainable fertilizer source. Blue Water Technologies, of Hayden, has licenced Moller’s previous innovations and is also a research partner on the current project.

Moller has tested the trailer, which has the capacity to process 15 to 25 gallons of water per minute, on water that has undergone initial treatment at the Moscow wastewater treatment plant, but still contains elevated nutrient loads.

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Taxonomy

• Purification
• Technology
• Filtration