Florida officials are testing new technology that turns algae into fertilizer

Aug 04, 2023

At May’s Nursery in Havana, algae is beginning to take over a nearby pond. Not only do farmers use the pond to water over 400 different species of plants, but scientists have found the pond feeds directly into the Gulf of Mexico and imposes a serious threat to the state’s ecosystem.

Dan Levy is the founder of AECOM's algae practice team and is partnering with the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) to clean and collect algae from Northwest Florida water bodies.

Green Algae? "Unfortunately, when an abundance of nutrients get in our waterways, we end up forming harmful algal blooms,” said Levy.

Algae forms when runoff from fertilizer used on farms and lawns brings too many nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus into the water.

"We’re using close to 200 metric tons of fertilizer annually across the globe," said Levy. "The U.S. uses about 10 percent of that. If we can find a way to harvest the nutrients that is runoff through normal agricultural practices, we now have another tool in the toolbox to help us craft a sustainable closed loop system.”

Algae as a fertilizer With the help from the University of Florida research department, the green gunk can now be turned into an alternative fertilizer.

Here’s how it worksThe harvester machine sits on the banks of May’s Nursery Pond and sucks in the contaminated water.

Then, AECOM's engineers insert a chemical to create tiny bubbles that makes the algae float to the water’s surface.

From there, the algae can be scraped off and stored for UF’s scientists to test for potential fertilizer use and clean water is returned to the pond.

Northwest Florida’s Sydney Bunch says the goal has always been ensuring the state has safe and reusable water.

“It was when we work hand and hand with the community and it's producers that we can provide the most advanced technology to achieve the absolute best water quality standards,” said Northwest Florida’s Sydney Bunch.

The district received a $960,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last June to fund Tuesdays’ project and similar projects around Northwest Florida.

AECOM removed algae from Lake Munson back in 2021. The group looks to continue extracting algae out of the district for the next two years. The team has until then to get as many farmers as possible to make the full switch from mineral fertilizer to algae-based fertilizer.