Phosphates may be critical for protecting the global food supply, but they're also a mortal threat to marine life. A U.K.-based company has taken this contradictory quandary and developed a simple but highly effective product that may save us from catastrophe.
Rookwood Operations is a company based in Somerset, England, that offers "sustainable circularity through nutrient recovery innovation," per its website.
One of its innovations in nutrient recovery is Phosphate Removal Material, or PRM, as the Guardian reported. The sponge-like PRM is used to absorb phosphates, extracting them from places where they're deadly so they can be redirected to areas they can help rather than hinder.
Phosphates are compounds of the element phosphorus. They play important roles all in the human body including in DNA and bone formation. They're also critical to protecting our food supply, as they're an essential plant nutrient and a key component in commercial fertilizer, per the Guardian.
Unfortunately, those important plant-growing qualities can become a nightmare when phosphates find their way into water. The compounds supercharge the growth of algae, sapping the water of oxygen and creating a toxic environment. Phosphate-polluted waters can result in widespread death of marine life and significant damage to aquatic ecosystems.
This issue has been nearing a crisis point, but with Rookwood Operations' development of PRM, an awful situation may have just become a great one. The product can not only pull phosphate out of lakes and rivers being threatened by it, but it can then be used to improve soil quality and create fertilizer.
Watch now: Grocery store executive reveals simple ways the chain slashes its operating costs
One of Rookwood Operations' co-founders, Jane Pearce, has received a £75,000 (nearly $100,000) award from Innovate U.K., the government's funding agency.
"What we have developed is a simple material that could have a very wide impact on a really worrying environmental problem," Pearce said, per the Guardian. "We hope it will stabilize phosphate use in this country and reduce our need to import mined supplies from other countries."
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have recently developed their own method of addressing this issue. Their process was found to remove over 99% of phosphorus from water.
Both of these innovations come at just the right time, as algal blooms are becoming a growing concern around the globe. Lake Superior on the border between Canada and the United States once had no recorded algal blooms, but warming temperatures and phosphorus runoff have caused several blooms since 2012.
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
|
Do you worry about how much food you throw away? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Definitely 
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
