Ostara & EPCOR Partner to Build Canada’s Largest Nutrient Recovery Facility

EDMONTON, Alberta and VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Sept. 30 2014) – EPCOR Water Services Inc. and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies have partnered to build the largest nutrient recovery facility in Canada. The facility will recover phosphorus from the nutrient-rich wastewater stream from the Clover Bar biosolids settling lagoons located at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre and transform it into an eco-friendly, slow-release fertilizer, sold as Crystal Green. The facility and process are being constructed by PCL Construction Management Inc. and Ostara at Clover Bar, where EPCOR discharges the biosolids produced at the Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant, which it owns and operates. “Ostara’s process is a green win for EPCOR,” said Project Manager Gavin Post. “Implementing Ostara’s nutrient recovery technology will help us reduce the amount of phosphorus that we are discharging to the North Saskatchewan River at the Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant. As well, a reduction of phosphorus in our global system will significantly reduce the need to use chemicals to combat struvite buildup in our treatment system.” The nutrient recovery facility will feature Ostara’s Pearl 10,000, and, once fully operational in 2015, it will have an expected annual production of at least 2,000 tons of Crystal Green fertilizer. The Ostara Pearl process will not only help the Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant meet increasingly stringent phosphorus discharge limits into the North Saskatchewan River but will also help protect the local watershed. Excess nutrient discharge into surface waters contributes to eutrophication, the growth of algae and other aquatic plants that can reduce sunlight and oxygen levels to the point where other aquatic life cannot survive. The facility will recover up to 85 percent of the phosphorus and 25 percent of the nitrogen from the Clover Bar biosolids settling lagoons, helping EPCOR to overcome buildup of struvite scale, a concrete-like mineral deposit caused by excess nutrients that chokes process equipment, increases operating costs and undermines plant reliability. “Ostara’s technology is expected to provide us with greater flexibility in managing the liquid, nutrient-rich wastewater inventory at the Clover Bar biosolids settling lagoons and improve the performance of our entire wastewater treatment system,” Post said. Ostara’s process is expected to remove 245 metric tons of phosphorus annually. “We are very excited to partner with EPCOR to build a commercial nutrient recovery facility in the City of Edmonton—this was the site of our first demonstration facility in 2007 and will now feature our Pearl 10,000, a scale-up 20 times the original installation,” said Ostara President and CEO Phillip Abrary. “The Ostara process really represents a new paradigm in sustainability for wastewater treatment plants around the world. It provides a proven and affordable means of helping cities become better stewards of their environment through sound nutrient management practices.” Post added, “As operators of one of the most advanced recycling facilities in the world, we are always looking for technologies to keep us ahead of the curve. With the rapid growth of Edmonton’s population, we now have a tool to help us better manage the liquid level of the Clover Bar lagoons, and most important, play an active role in reducing the environmental impact of nutrient pollution in the North Saskatchewan River.” The nutrient recovery facility and process is currently being constructed by PCL Construction Management Inc. and Ostara, and EPCOR will operate the facility. EPCOR’s wholly owned subsidiaries build, own and operate electrical transmission and distribution networks, water and wastewater treatment facilities, and infrastructure in Canada and the U.S. The company’s subsidiaries also provide electricity and water services and products to residential and commercial customers. Opened in 1956, Gold Bar is one of Canada’s largest Class IV wastewater treatment facilities, and, on average, treats 255 million liters per day, which is more than 100,000 million liters annually—enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool more than 110 times a day. Vancouver-based Ostara helps protect precious water resources by changing the way cities around the world manage nutrients in wastewater streams.