Next spring, a sewage treatment facility in Tigard will become the first in the United States to begin manufacturing an environmentally safe commercial fertilizer. Construction will begin soon on a set of reactors that will remove nutrients from wastewater, such as phosphorous, and convert them to a product called Crystal Green, which will be sold throughout the Northwest, the Tigard Times and Marketwatch reported.
The owner of the plant, Clean Water Services, serves some 500,000 residents living in multiple municipalities west of Portland, Ore. Clean Water Services will share in the proceeds with Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc., a Canadian business that developed the technology under license from the University of British Columbia. It’s expected the facility will generate 40 tons of fertilizer per month, paying for the cost of the required capital improvements within four years, and netting the agency a profit thereafter. The fertilizer will be suitable for nurseries, golf courses and other agricultural uses.
