Treating Wastewater

Duckweed can extract unwanted minerals from wastewater, providing a cost-effective alternative to other management technologies. BTWM's systems offer many advantages over conventional methods. They avoid the use of expensive and environmentally unfriendly chemicals and are simpler and cheaper to construct than mechanical systems. Thus, they provide an financially attractive option for small communities requiring a sewage treatment process. Further, BTWM systems can operate in remote areas without power. Using the BTWM system, suitably treated effluent can be released into the most sensitive riverine environments.

The BTWM system meets the special needs of rural animal production and food processing industries. Each year these sectors are subjected to ever more stringent environmental guidelines. Many sites are under siege, not only regarding odour nuisance, but also in relation to effluent use. Wastewater from piggeries, feedlots, poultry processing farms, abattoirs and other sites is often used to irrigate land. Discharge of these nutrient-rich waters sometimes threatens to disrupt local ecosystems and has attracted regulatory attention.

Traditional solutions are prohibitively expensive. Trials have shown, however, that the BTWM system can cleanse wastewater from piggeries, feedlots, abattoirs and food processing sites at a fraction of the cost of other methods. The BTWM system delivers a commercial byproduct in the form of the harvested duckweed, a high-value feed supplement.