New filtering technology converts waste to fertilizer

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls Durham plant one of the ‘best operated and functioning’ treatment centers in the U.S.

By Stover E Harger III

The Beaverton Valley Times, Jun 18, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jaime Valdez / The Times

CLEAN START – Phillip Abrary, David Van't Hof, Roy Rogers and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. inspect the first ton of fertilizer from the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility.

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The Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility has stepped to the front lines of the commercial sustainability movement with the unveiling of its new filtering technology that will recover phosphorus from waste and recycle it into sellable fertilizer.

The Durham facility, owned and operated by Clean Water Services, is the first in the world to use this technology in a full-scale commercial operation to treat 100 percent of its wastewater. It has signed a 15-year contract with the company that developed the system, Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., mayors from Beaverton, Tigard and Tualatin, and other local dignitaries and politicians were on hand on June 10 for the unveiling of the PEARL facility to showcase what many say is a bold step in an even-greener direction for Oregon and Washington County.

Kennedy, a prominent environmental lawyer and member of the Ostara board, has been a strong advocate for the technology and believes that it signals a bright light on the future of sustainability. Finding a way to get phosphorus out of wastewater — a traditionally costly problem — will not only save money in the long-run, but save the environment by decreasing the need to mine for phosphate.

“You now have indispensably the best operated and the best functioning sewage treatment plant in North America,” Kennedy said.

The $2.5 million Ostara PEARL recovery facility is expected to remove more than 90 percent of phosphorus and 20 percent of ammonia in wastewater and in turn create 500 tons of Crystal Green fertilizer a year. As wastewater pours in, machines make a series of biological and chemical reactions that eventually leads to the creation of the slow-release pellet fertilizer, which will be sold by Ostara.

Both Clean Water Services (CWS) and Ostara will share revenue from the Crystal Green fertilizers sales and CWS is expected to find a return on the initial investment in five years.

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