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It is estimated that Canada’s wastewater treatment plants produce as much as 660,000 tonnes of dried sludge in a year. While a portion of the sludge may be treated and recycled as fertilizer, most facilities dispose of the remainder through landfills or incineration, placing a strain on their operating costs as well as on the environment. Anaerobic digestion is an effective way to reduce organics, including sludge, by converting it to biogas. In some municipalities, anaerobic digestion happens at the [...]

Phosphorus is getting a bad rap these days — and with good reason. According to recent estimates, humans are pumping 10 million tonnes of this nutrient into the world’s lakes and rivers each year[1] with results that can be devastating. In 2014, for example, a massive bloom of blue-green algae, fueled by phosphorus, turned large parts of Lake Erie the colour of a spinach-based smoothie. It also released dangerous cyanotoxins, forcing authorities to cut off tap water to half a [...]

Every year, diseases caused by contaminated drinking water kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Detecting contamination early — before dangerous microorganisms have a chance to multiply — would save countless lives. Right now, however, testing water samples means sending them to a lab. In remote communities, or even in big cities like Beijing where each building has its own water tank, that simply isn’t feasible. And even where it is feasible, it takes several days to get [...]