This profile was made possible through financial support provided by FedNor Wastewaters with high nutrient content, such as mining effluent ponds and farm runoff, undergo a biologically mediated nitrification process, leading to high levels of ammonium nitrate. In nitrate-rich surface waters, populations of bacteria and algae thrive and deplete the waters of oxygen vital to fish and other aquatic life.
Nitrates are extremely persistent, as natural degradation processes are very slow.
Mikro-Tek has developed a process to enhance the growth rates of cattail mats in a controlled greenhouse environment over a short time span. This accelerated growth provides mature, floating cattail mats, which can be deployed into retention ponds in the same season to provide rapid denitrification. Floating cattail mats can be used for ammonium nitrate removal in industrial, commercial, and municipal applications. Whereas conventional methods require multiple growing seasons to establish a cattail mat, Mikro-Tek's accelerated growth of floating cattail mats allows deployment in one season, even in northern climatic conditions. Treatment systems designed to handle total effluent compliance can be designed based on pilot studies at a given site.