Clean Water Services to Add Second Ostara Nutrient Recovery Facility at Rock Creek Wastewater Plant
CLEAN WATER SERVICES TO ADD SECOND OSTARA NUTRIENT RECOVERY FACILITY AT ROCK CREEK WASTEWATER PLANT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – HILLSBORO, OREGON and VANCOUVER, CANADA – March 1, 2011 – Clean Water Services and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. have partnered to install an innovative nutrient recovery facility at Clean Water Services’ Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Hillsboro, OR. This will be Ostara’s second installation of a commercial Pearl® Nutrient Recovery System at a Clean Water Services’ facility. Upon completion, the Rock Creek facility will be the largest Pearl facility in the world. Ostara’s first commercial Pearl Nutrient Recovery System began operating at Clean Water Services’ Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in June 2009.
The Rock Creek facility will commence construction this summer as part of the plant’s expansion, and is expected to be fully operational by fall 2011. The facility will feature two Pearl 2000 fluidized bed reactors, significantly larger than the systems currently installed at the Durham facility in Tigard, and in Ostara’s other commercial facilities in York, PA and Suffolk, VA. Clean Water Services’ Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility cleans 39 million gallons of wastewater a day from the municipalities of Hillsboro, Beaverton, Forest Grove, Cornelius, North Plains, Banks and Gaston as well as Aloha, Bethany, Cedar Mill, and Rock Creek.
“Our continued partnership with Ostara is a testament to the success of our first nutrient recovery system at the Durham facility,” says Bill Gaffi, General Manager of Clean Water Services. “This technology provides benefits to our ratepayers and the environment by extracting valuable nutrients – which would otherwise clog our pipes – to create an environmentally safe, revenue producing commercial fertilizer.”
A common challenge for wastewater treatment facilities such as Rock Creek is the over-accumulation of phosphorus in the equipment resulting in the formation of struvite scale, a concrete-like mineral deposit which congests processing equipment adding significantly to operating and maintenance costs and threatening plant reliability. Ostara’s Pearl process will help Clean Water Services overcome these challenges at Rock Creek with the recovery of up to 95 per cent of the phosphorus and 20 per cent of ammonia from the liquid wastewater stream at the Rock Creek facility, which will then be transformed – through a chemical reaction in Ostara’s proprietary fluidized bed reactors (Pearl 2000) – into an environmentally friendly, slow-release fertilizer marketed as Crystal Green®.
The Pearl 2000 reactors at Rock Creek will have the capacity to produce 1200 tons of Crystal Green fertilizer every year. Combined with the Durham facility, which has an annual capacity of 500 tons, Clean Water Services will become the largest producer of Crystal Green in the world.
With the Ostara process, phosphorus and other essential nutrients are recovered and transformed into Crystal Green which can be used locally by nurseries and other businesses within Washington County. Crystal Green provides a key environmental benefit – the protection of the Oregon waterways – as the fertilizer has limited runoff due to its unique slow release properties.
“Clean Water Services has always been a leader in adopting progressive solutions in wastewater management,” said Phillip Abrary, Ostara’s president and CEO. “We view Clean Water Services as a partner in reaching cost-effective and environmentally sound goals to recover nutrients for the highest beneficial re-use, and we are looking forward to our continued partnership with Clean Water Services on this state-of-the-art Pearl 2000 deployment at their Rock Creek facility.”
The production of Crystal Green is significantly less carbon-intensive compared to fertilizers produced from mined phosphorus. Further, once the recovered nutrients are transformed into Crystal Green, the fertilizer is dried using energy derived from the digestion of wastewater solids, further optimizing the economic and environmental efficiency of the project.
As the world’s first environmentally safe, slow-release fertilizer made from recovered nutrients, Crystal Green is ideally suited for the nursery, turf and specialty agriculture markets. It is sold through national and regional commercial fertilizer blenders across North America. A single application of Crystal Green on turf can replace multiple applications of phosphorus from other fertilizer blends, potentially reducing costs.
“Phosphorus, a key building block of life, is mined today in a limited number of areas but used globally as an essential agricultural input,” added Abrary. “We’re recovering phosphorus and other nutrients and transforming them into a useful, premium fertilizer while reducing the carbon footprint in its manufacture and preventing runoff in its use. By bringing the process full circle, we are truly creating value from waste.”
ABOUT CLEAN WATER SERVICES AND ROCK CREEK ADVANCED WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT (WWTP)
Clean Water Services is a water resources management utility for more than 520,000 people in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego, and Portland. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment facilities, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects, and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. Although Clean Water Services maintains a close working relationship with Washington County government, it is a separately managed and financed public utility. The Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility, located at 3235 SW River Road in Hillsboro, Oregon, won the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2006 National Clean Water Act Recognition Award for operations and maintenance excellence in large facilities with advanced treatment. The facility cleans 39 million gallons of wastewater on an average day, discharging water so clean it improves Tualatin River water quality. The utility’s Durham Facility won the award in 2005, for back to back top national honors.
ABOUT OSTARA NUTRIENT RECOVERY TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. designs, builds and sells a new generation of water treatment systems – a nutrient recovery solution that creates value from waste by removing nutrients from wastewater and transforming them into revenue-generating, environmentally friendly commercial fertilizer, called Crystal Green®. Ostara is backed by VantagePoint Venture Partners in the U.S. and Frog Capital in the UK. In September 2010, Ostara was named a 2011 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. In 2009 and 2010 Ostara was named one of the Top 100 Global CleanTech Companies by The Cleantech Group & The Guardian, a London-based media group. For more information: visit www.ostara.com and www.crystalgreen.com.
Contact:
Debra Hadden, Director, Corporate Communications
Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc.
dhadden@ostara.com, 604-240-3196
Mark Jockers, Government and Public Affairs Manager
Clean Water Services
jockersm@cleanwaterservices.org, 503-681-4450 (work), 503-701-4293 (cell)
Download:
RC-2 Ostara news release FINAL

Shafdan Wastewater Treatment Plant will be the first in the region to install an Ostara Nutrient Recovery Facility

City of St. Cloud to Install Ostara’s Nutrient Recovery Technology as Key Part of the City’s Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Project

Ostara to Deliver City of Atlanta Nutrient Recovery Facility Through Unique Alternative Finance Model

Ellen MacArthur Foundation | Case Study: Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies – Closing the Nutrient Loop

Treatment Plant Operator | Water Environment Federation Presents Awards for Operational and Design Excellence

The MWRD of Greater Chicago’s Nutrient Recovery Facility earns Top Honor from Water Environment Federation

Executive Voice Publishing | The Best of Canada Report: Honoring Canada’s 150 year Legacy of Commercial Success (as seen in Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal)

SDTC SUCCESS STORY | Partnering for real results. Meeting environmental goals. Moving cleantech to market.

Black & Veatch | World’s largest nutrient recovery facility produces valuable, environmentally friendly fertilizer

AQUA STRATEGY | A growth opportunity – how recovery of phosphorus from wastewater is bringing success for Ostara

ESEM | Wastewater converted to ecofriendly fertilizer with the help of dewatering, classifying screeners

VANCOUVER SUN | Vancouver’s Ostara aims to harvest from municipal waste rather than mining phosphorus

WATER BRIEFING | Dutch Waterboard opens Europe’s first nutrient recovery facility at Amersfoort WwTW

DUTCH WATER SECTOR | Next-step sludge treatment integrates three advanced technologies at wwtp Amersfoort, the Netherlands

SUSTAINABLE BRANDS | Chemical Plant, Nutrient Recovery Facility Bring Circular Economy One Step Closer

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Ostara Open World’s Largest Nutrient Recovery Facility to Help Recover Phosphorus and Protect Mississippi River Basin

Dutch Waterboard Vallei en Veluwe and Ostara to produce high-value fertiliser, Crystal Green® at Amersfoort WWTP

Ostara is named in the 2015 Global Cleantech 100: Recognized as a Pioneer in Shaping the Future of Resource Recovery

ACWA Services partners with Ostara to offer Phosphorus Recovery Revenue Stream for UK Water Companies

Ostara is Named in the 2014 Global Cleantech 100 for 6th Straight year: Recognized as Market Leader in Waste to Wealth Technology

Ostara Sees Improved Dewaterability and Reduced Biosolids Production with Waste-activated Sludge Stripping Technology

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District and Ostara Help Dane County Lead the Way in Reducing Nutrient Pollution

What operational benefits and political motivation persuade utilities to install nutrient recovery systems?

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies wins Technology Green 15™ Award at the 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ Awards

Come, friendly bombs, don’t fall on Slough. It’s doing good for humans now: Berkshire town to launch £2m nutrient-recovery reactor

BBC World News Horizons explores why human waste is one of biggest public health issues facing world today

Ostara Named to 2013 Global Cleantech 100 List: Recognized as Market Leader in Technology with World-Changing Impact

Ostara Named to 2013 Global Cleantech 100 List: Recognized as Market Leader in Technology with World-Changing Impact

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Chicago’s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Discuss Nutrient Recovery’s Crucial Role in Combatting Water Pollution

Black & Veatch and Ostara to Design-Build New Nutrient Recovery System for World’s Largest Water Reclamation Plant

Black & Veatch and Ostara to Design-Build New Nutrient Recovery System for World’s Largest Water Reclamation Plant

Clean Water Services and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Open World’s Largest Municipal Nutrient Recovery Facility

Hampton Roads Sanitation District and Ostara Win National Council of Public-Private Partnerships Award

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District and Ostara Partner to Install Commercial Nutrient Recovery Facility

Virginia Wastewater Treatment Plant First In Chesapeake Bay Watershed to Recover Nutrients and Transform Them into “Green” Commercial Fertilizer

Media Alert: Unveiling of New Nutrient Recovery Facility That Will Protect Chesapeake Bay, with Keynote Speaker Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

World’s Only Slow Release, Renewable Fertiliser Begins Commercial Production – Crystal Green® Proven Effective for Turf, Nursery, Specialty Markets

HRSD Treatment Plant to Build Full-Scale Nutrient Recycling Facility Nutrients will be Recycled into ‘Green’ Commercial Fertilizer

Severn Trent First in Europe to Recycle Nutrients into “Environmentally Friendly” Commercial Fertiliser

VantagePoint Venture Partner’s Portfolio Companies Take Top Rankings in Guardian’s Global CleanTech 100

Oregon Wastewater Treatment Plant First in the U.S. to Recycle Nutrients Into ‘Green’ Commercial Fertilizer

SFPUC and Ostara Demonstrate Innovative Technology That Recycles Harmful Sewage Byproduct to Environmentally-safe Fertilizer

SFPUC and Ostara Demonstrate Innovative Technology That Recycles Harmful Sewage Byproduct to Environmentally-Safe Fertilizer

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Raises U.S. $10.5 Million to Accelerate Commercialization of CleanTech Water Treatment Process

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc.: Oregon Wastewater Treatment Plant Is the First in U.S. to Recycle Nutrients Into “Green” Commercial Fertilizer

Edmonton Reveals World’s First Industrial Scale Sewage Treatment Facility to Recycle Nutrients Into Environmentally-Safe Commercial Fertilizer

Clean Water Services’ wastewater treatment facility conducts trials of new environmentally-friendly technology from Canadian company
© 2017 Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. | Home | Contact Us
Clean Water Services to Add Second Ostara Nutrient Recovery Facility at Rock Creek Wastewater Plant
Gwinnett County is unveiling this week a system that will allow it to extract phosphorus from its wastewater to sell as fertilizer.
17 October 2015 – With the new technology, the county could profit from something that has cost money to dispose of in the past.
Phosphorus exists in human waste, and has to be removed before treated water can be sent back to lakes and rivers. Under the old system in Gwinnett, phosphorus built up in pipes and hardened when it was mixed with other chemicals. It had to be scraped out at a cost of about $100,000 a year and sent to landfills.
The county’s new nutrient recovery process removes phosphorus before it hits those pipes. Instead of throwing the phosphorus away, the county now sells it to the Canadian company Ostara, which in turn provides it to golf courses and farms.
Gwinnett spent $15.2 million to became the ninth facility in the world to have the technology produced by Ostara and is currently responsible for about 20 percent of the company’s production of fertilizer “pearls,” known as Crystal Green, Ostara CEO Phillip Abrary said.
Abrary said the process allows the county to “upcycle” what had been waste phosphorus in the past into a slow-release, environmentally friendly fertilizer.
The county expects to make about $220,000 a year through fertilizer sales. In addition to saving $100,000 annually in pipe cleaning costs, Gwinnett expects to save $600,000 a year in chemicals that it no longer needs to purchase and $250,000 a year in reduced waste disposal costs, said Ron Latimer, vice president of Hazen & Sawyer, a consulting firm.
“The problem was getting worse,” Latimer said. “The problems were more than creating a heartache for the plant.”
The project is expected to recoup its cost in 10 to 15 years.
Gwinnett has one of the strictest phosphorus limits in the country because of an agreement with the Lake Lanier Association, said Jeff Boss, deputy director of facilities for the Department of Water Resources. Letting too much phosphorus back into Lake Lanier, where the plant discharges its water, leads to algae blooms.
After phosphorus-heavy liquid is drained from solid waste at the treatment plant, it is mixed with an ammonium-filled liquid. When the two mix in a reactor, they create small, phosphorus-heavy seeds. Instead of coating pipes, the phosphorus pearls are now being sold back to Ostara as fertilizer.
Gwinnett is the first place in the state using the technology, but the city of Atlanta recently requested proposals for a similar project.
With the installation of the nutrient recovery system, the county is moving even further away from using the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Centeras simply a facility for treating water, Boss said.
In addition to making fertilizer, the plant uses excess methane to power a generator at the site. It has recently purchased electric vehicles for travel around the area, which are powered by the generator. The department is also beginning a study to clean wastewater well enough that it can be used as drinking water without having to be released back to Lake Lanier and cleaned again.
“We want people in Gwinnett County to know how we’re spending their money. We want them to be proud,” Boss said. “If this was a pig, there’d be nothing left. We even use the squeal.”
The county will continue to look for ways the plant can make money off the waste it processes. In addition to helping to save money, Latimer said, the processes are better for the environment.
“There’s going to be a time when nothing leaves this plant as a debit,” Boss said. “We have a lot of irons in the fire.”

Shafdan Wastewater Treatment Plant will be the first in the region to install an Ostara Nutrient Recovery Facility

City of St. Cloud to Install Ostara’s Nutrient Recovery Technology as Key Part of the City’s Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Project

Ostara to Deliver City of Atlanta Nutrient Recovery Facility Through Unique Alternative Finance Model

Ellen MacArthur Foundation | Case Study: Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies – Closing the Nutrient Loop

Treatment Plant Operator | Water Environment Federation Presents Awards for Operational and Design Excellence

The MWRD of Greater Chicago’s Nutrient Recovery Facility earns Top Honor from Water Environment Federation

Executive Voice Publishing | The Best of Canada Report: Honoring Canada’s 150 year Legacy of Commercial Success (as seen in Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal)

SDTC SUCCESS STORY | Partnering for real results. Meeting environmental goals. Moving cleantech to market.

Black & Veatch | World’s largest nutrient recovery facility produces valuable, environmentally friendly fertilizer

AQUA STRATEGY | A growth opportunity – how recovery of phosphorus from wastewater is bringing success for Ostara

ESEM | Wastewater converted to ecofriendly fertilizer with the help of dewatering, classifying screeners

VANCOUVER SUN | Vancouver’s Ostara aims to harvest from municipal waste rather than mining phosphorus

WATER BRIEFING | Dutch Waterboard opens Europe’s first nutrient recovery facility at Amersfoort WwTW

DUTCH WATER SECTOR | Next-step sludge treatment integrates three advanced technologies at wwtp Amersfoort, the Netherlands

SUSTAINABLE BRANDS | Chemical Plant, Nutrient Recovery Facility Bring Circular Economy One Step Closer

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Ostara Open World’s Largest Nutrient Recovery Facility to Help Recover Phosphorus and Protect Mississippi River Basin

Dutch Waterboard Vallei en Veluwe and Ostara to produce high-value fertiliser, Crystal Green® at Amersfoort WWTP

Ostara is named in the 2015 Global Cleantech 100: Recognized as a Pioneer in Shaping the Future of Resource Recovery

ACWA Services partners with Ostara to offer Phosphorus Recovery Revenue Stream for UK Water Companies

Ostara is Named in the 2014 Global Cleantech 100 for 6th Straight year: Recognized as Market Leader in Waste to Wealth Technology

Ostara Sees Improved Dewaterability and Reduced Biosolids Production with Waste-activated Sludge Stripping Technology

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District and Ostara Help Dane County Lead the Way in Reducing Nutrient Pollution

What operational benefits and political motivation persuade utilities to install nutrient recovery systems?

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies wins Technology Green 15™ Award at the 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ Awards

Come, friendly bombs, don’t fall on Slough. It’s doing good for humans now: Berkshire town to launch £2m nutrient-recovery reactor

BBC World News Horizons explores why human waste is one of biggest public health issues facing world today

Ostara Named to 2013 Global Cleantech 100 List: Recognized as Market Leader in Technology with World-Changing Impact

Ostara Named to 2013 Global Cleantech 100 List: Recognized as Market Leader in Technology with World-Changing Impact

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Chicago’s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Discuss Nutrient Recovery’s Crucial Role in Combatting Water Pollution

Black & Veatch and Ostara to Design-Build New Nutrient Recovery System for World’s Largest Water Reclamation Plant

Black & Veatch and Ostara to Design-Build New Nutrient Recovery System for World’s Largest Water Reclamation Plant

Clean Water Services and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Open World’s Largest Municipal Nutrient Recovery Facility

Hampton Roads Sanitation District and Ostara Win National Council of Public-Private Partnerships Award

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District and Ostara Partner to Install Commercial Nutrient Recovery Facility

Virginia Wastewater Treatment Plant First In Chesapeake Bay Watershed to Recover Nutrients and Transform Them into “Green” Commercial Fertilizer

Media Alert: Unveiling of New Nutrient Recovery Facility That Will Protect Chesapeake Bay, with Keynote Speaker Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

World’s Only Slow Release, Renewable Fertiliser Begins Commercial Production – Crystal Green® Proven Effective for Turf, Nursery, Specialty Markets

HRSD Treatment Plant to Build Full-Scale Nutrient Recycling Facility Nutrients will be Recycled into ‘Green’ Commercial Fertilizer

Severn Trent First in Europe to Recycle Nutrients into “Environmentally Friendly” Commercial Fertiliser

VantagePoint Venture Partner’s Portfolio Companies Take Top Rankings in Guardian’s Global CleanTech 100

Oregon Wastewater Treatment Plant First in the U.S. to Recycle Nutrients Into ‘Green’ Commercial Fertilizer

SFPUC and Ostara Demonstrate Innovative Technology That Recycles Harmful Sewage Byproduct to Environmentally-safe Fertilizer

SFPUC and Ostara Demonstrate Innovative Technology That Recycles Harmful Sewage Byproduct to Environmentally-Safe Fertilizer

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Raises U.S. $10.5 Million to Accelerate Commercialization of CleanTech Water Treatment Process

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc.: Oregon Wastewater Treatment Plant Is the First in U.S. to Recycle Nutrients Into “Green” Commercial Fertilizer

Edmonton Reveals World’s First Industrial Scale Sewage Treatment Facility to Recycle Nutrients Into Environmentally-Safe Commercial Fertilizer

Clean Water Services’ wastewater treatment facility conducts trials of new environmentally-friendly technology from Canadian company
© 2017 Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. | Home | Contact Us