OUR TECHNOLOGY

Phoslock Water Solutions Limited (PWS) manufacture and distribute a product, “Phoslock” that was invented and developed by Australia’s leading research organisation, ‘CSIRO’ over 10 years of research and development. Phoslock removes orthophosphate (also known as Filterable Reactive Phosphorus, FRP) from the water body and forms a diffuse layer on the top of the sediment that continues to react with the phosphate released from the sediment. Filterable Reactive Phosphorus is one of the essential nutrients for phytoplankton (including algae and blue-green algae) growth. Through removal of FRP, growth and proliferation of algae and blue-green algae is decreased due to the nutrient limitation.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are two important nutrients for algal (including blue-green algae) growth and proliferation. The growth of blue green algae is not limited by the concentration of nitrogen in a water body. They are capable of fixing and storing nitrogen from the atmosphere. Their proliferation is related to the competitive advantage they have over other phytoplankton groups when excess phosphorus is available in the water. In addition, limitation of nitrogen is an expensive process that requires high energy, chemical costs and specialised equipment. Removal of bioavailable phosphorus from water body increases the N:P ratio. The effect of this is a significant reduction of blue green algae in the water body that leads to a decrease in eutrophication and a decrease in the potential for the water body to contain harmful blue green algal toxins. The consequence of an increased N:P ratio is a change in species composition away from potentially harmful toxic blue-green algae.