70% of frsh water is used to produce food. In the next 30 years, we will have to double our food production. If we don’t make a change, we are going to run out of water. One of the problem comes from the fish farms, that waste water with an excess of nutrients into the rivers, causing severe problems for the ecosystems and the quality of our water resources.
MicroTERRA is an innovative water solution that develops onsite water treatment systems with microalgae that transforms the wastewater into sustainable animal feed, while cleaning the water:
- Lemna is a fast growing aquatic plant (can be harvested every 2nd dat) with high protein content (45% protein). It grows in the surfaces of water high in nutrients (i.e. fish farms). Lemna absorbs the waste of the fish, thus eliminating the need to change water.
- Process: The wastewater from aquaculture tanks is fed into bioreactors to cultivate microalgae that feed on the nutrients. After the microalgae grow, they are harvested and used as a protein source for the fish feed. The water that comes out clean can be recycled back to the aquaculture tanks; thus saving water and preventing the disposal of untreated wastewater.
- microTERRA’s process relies on the following innovation pillars:
- selective biology for microalgae consortium adapted to produce more biomass
- bioinformatics and sensors (IOT) to monitor the system remotely, reducing operation costs significantly
- onsite and modular systems, meaning we have no transportation costs and easy to scaleup
This is a scalable, affordable and sustainable solution that will cover the growing demand for protein source while cleaning water resources. This system needs to be implemented by fish farms, that will see the benefit from saving costs in water use and additional revenues from selling the lemna as raw material for food producers.