Brightwater Tools develops technology for wastewater nutrient recovery systems to facilitate circular economies
Wastewater nutrient recovery addresses environmental and economic challenges.
Sustainable Fertilizer Production
A global fertilizer crisis, including a decrease in European fertilizer production by 70% and a 200% increase in fertilizer prices, is threatening global food security.
Brightwater Tools’ Freeze Concentration System recovers nutrients from high-strength wastewater in a small fraction of the total volume. Once pasteurized and filtered, toilet resources become a local, sustainable fertilizer product.
Water Conservation
Yearly, the US wastes 1.2 trillion gallons of clean water just to flush toilets, costing about $5 billion. Instead, our system conserves most or all of this water by using micro flush or waterless toilet fixtures.
Further, the nutrient reduced effluent from Brightwater Tools’ Freeze Concentration System can be combined with gray-water for onsite treatment and non-potable reuse to offset a building’s water budget.
Nutrient Pollution
Nutrient pollution is compromising precious water resources across the country and is estimated to cost the US $2.2 billion annually.
Brightwater Tools’ Freeze Concentration System recovers over 90% of the nutrients from a building’s blackwater stream, which contains the vast majority of nutrients that are emitted from domestic sources.
Climate Change
Conventional wastewater treatment accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, synthetic fertilizer production accounts for 1-2% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Brightwater Tools’ Freeze Concentration System uses highly efficient technologies to produce a concentrated fertilizer product with a projected lower energy consumption than both conventional wastewater nitrogen removal and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production.
SBIR Phase I 2020 ($240,000), SBIR Phase II 2022 ($1M)
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