Plant Nutrients from Wastewater

Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium - there are valuable nutrients contained in wastewater. Unfortunately, these essential nutrients are lost in conventional wastewater treatment plants. This is the reason why researchers at Fraunhofer have been working on processes for regaining these nutrients in the form that can be used for agriculture.

Plants cannot thrive without nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous or potassium, therefore farmers usually use organic and industrially manufactured mineral fertilizers to supply wheat, maize and others with these vital substances. In future, the need for nutrients will be soaring because we will only be able to supply the world's growing population with food and cover surging demands for biofuels by using fertilizers.

The researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart, Germany are working at alternatives. They want to recover these essential nutrients from wastewater.

For more information:

http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2010/09/Pflanzennaehrstoffe.jsp