FAQs

Biomend's wastewater treatment process offers multiple environmental benefits, including reducing nutrient emissions and environmental pollutants, capturing and storing carbon, recovering and recirculating resources, while contributing to an emerging circular bioeconomy.

Reduce nutrient emissions:

Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant growth. But too much of them in our water can cause problems. When we release excessive nutrients into water bodies, it can lead to a condition called "eutrophication". This is like overfeeding plants in the water. They grow too much and too quickly, creating a thick layer of algae on the water surface, known as an "algae bloom".

This thick layer blocks sunlight from reaching other plants and animals underneath. When these algae eventually die, they are broken down by bacteria, a process that uses up oxygen in the water. This can create "dead zones" where other aquatic life can't survive due to lack of oxygen.

By reducing nutrient emissions to water, we can prevent eutrophication and protect the balance of life in our waters. This helps to maintain biodiversity and ensures our water bodies remain healthy and vibrant for future generations.

Reduce environmental pollutants:

Environmental pollutants, such as heavy metals, oil, and pesticides, can be harmful when they enter our water bodies. These pollutants can contaminate the water, making it unsafe for both humans and wildlife.

For example, heavy metals can accumulate in fish, making them unsafe to eat. Oil can coat the feathers of birds, making it hard for them to fly or stay warm. Pesticides can kill off insects, disrupting the food chain and affecting all the animals that rely on those insects for food.

By reducing the amount of these pollutants that we release into water, we can help protect the health and wellbeing of all the creatures that depend on that water, including us. Clean water is essential for a healthy environment and for our own health, so it's important that we do what we can to keep our water bodies free from harmful pollutants.

Increase carbon capture and storage:

Plants have a superpower - they can take in carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, from the air and store it. This process is natures own "carbon capture and storage" and it happens during photosynthesis.

Here's why it's important: Too much CO2 in our atmosphere is a big part of why our planet is getting warmer, a problem we call climate change. This warming can lead to more extreme weather, rising sea levels, and loss of wildlife habitats.

When plants grow, they absorb CO2, use the carbon to build their own tissues, and release oxygen back into the air. This not only reduces the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, helping to combat climate change, but also provides us with the oxygen we need to breathe.

By promoting plant growth, we can increase carbon capture and storage, which helps to slow down climate change and keep our air clean and breathable. It's a win-win for us and the environment!

Increase resource recovery and recirculation:

Municipal or urban wastewater treatment plants deal with a lot of waste water every day. This water contains many things that we can actually reuse, like nutrients and organic matter.

When we recover and recirculate these resources, we're doing two great things for the environment. First, we're reducing the amount of waste that we produce. Instead of just throwing these resources away, we're putting them back to work. This is a big part of what we call a "circular economy", where we try to reuse and recycle as much as we can.

Second, by reusing these resources, we're reducing the need to extract and produce new resources. This means less mining, less manufacturing, and less energy use, all of which can harm the environment.

Increasing resource recovery and recirculation from wastewater treatment plants not only reduces waste, but also helps to conserve our natural resources and energy, making our cities more sustainable and less harmful to the environment.

Contribute to an emerging circular bioeconomy:

Imagine if we could turn waste into something useful. That's exactly what happens when we grow plants on municipal wastewater. These plants absorb and store harmful substances from the wastewater, cleaning it in the process. But that's not all.

These plants, now full of nutrients, can be harvested and used in what we call a "circular bioeconomy". This means we're using biological resources, like plants, in a way that's sustainable and beneficial for the environment.

The harvested plants can be used for various purposes, such as creating biofuel, making organic fertilizers, or producing bioplastics. This not only reduces our reliance on fossil fuels and synthetic materials, but also recycles nutrients and carbon, reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

By growing plants on municipal wastewater, we're not just cleaning our water. We're also creating valuable resources, reducing waste, and fighting climate change. It's a win-win for us and the environment!