Sydney-based Phoslock Water Solutions and its consortium partners have been awarded a project in Brazil worth $10 million to utilise its Phoslock technology to environmentally remediate a large inner city lake in a major metropolitan city.
According to Phoslock Water Solutions, the project was awarded to a consortium that it is a part of, and it will derive approximately $5 million in value from the contract. Phoslock’s technology will be applied to the project within the next three months, and will be used over 12 to 15 months.
Phoslock Water Solutions produces and provides Phoslock, a patented technology originally developed by the CSIRO.
The Phoslock technology removes phosphorus and harmful contaminants from water, and has thus far been applied in over 250 water bodies, in over 20 countries since its commercialisation in 2005.
The technology works by binding phosphorous from a water body, and providing a protective permeable layer to sediments in order to prevent the phosphorus from being re-released. By locking phosphorus away, the technology deprives algae of nutrients, which improves water quality for human use and aquatic life as well as preventing and controlling Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB). Unlike many other treatments for blue-green algae, no chemicals are used.
Phoslock is primarily used as an in water solution for lakes, drinking water reservoirs and other high value recreational water bodies. It is also used as a preventative product to absorb phosphorus before it is transported into water bodies by being applied in storm water basins and inflow channels, rivers and canals.
The company has lodged applications for patents to protect the core Phoslock technology in approximately 50 countries, extending protection over the technology to 2033.
Phoslock Water Solutions has not disclosed further specifics about the project, citing commercial sensitivities prior to the signing of the formal contract. It expects the contract to be finalised within a month, upon which further information about the project will be disclosed.
According to the company, the project is the culmination of three years of construction. During this time, the lake was dredged, over 100 km of sewerage connector pipes were laid, four pumping stations were constructed, connecting to over 4000 customers. The final stage is the in-lake Phoslock treatment.
Phoslock is approved for use in North American Drinking Water Reservoirs via NSF/ANSI Standard 60 Certification. This certifies that Phoslock is safe for use in drinking water. Phoslock has been used on a number of high profile water bodies in Europe/UK, North America and Australia.