World’s Largest Municipal Nutrient Recovery Facility

THE CHALLENGE AT ROCK CREEK

The Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility has recently implemented biological phosphorus removal (BioP) - a process that uses microbes to remove phosphorus in the influent wastewater. A common challenge with biological phos-phorus removal facilities is that phosphorus and other nutrients from the sludge treatment stream are recycled within the plant, increasing the effective nutrient load on the main treatment process. Phosphorus, ammonia and magnesium become highly concentrated in the sludge handling process and cause the formation of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate). This struvite formation coats pipes, valves and other equipment which reduces flow capacities and increases maintenance requirements. In order to meet

stringent regulations on nutrient discharge limits into the Tualatin River, the Rock Creek Facility must seasonally treat phosphorus to a limit of 0.1 mg/L. To treat these nutrients, and prevent struvite formation, Clean Water Services looked beyond traditional solutions such as chemical dosing which is expensive and not as environmentally friendly, and examined Ostara’s Pearl Nutrient Recovery Process with the following objectives:

• Reduce sidestream nutrient loads

• Reduce potential for struvite scale

• Enhance reuse of nutrients

• Meet 0.1 mg/L phosphorus limit cost-effectively

“Our continued partnership with Ostara is testament to the success of our first nutrient recovery facility at Durham. We are very excited to be the first to launch Ostara's Pearl® 2000 process at our Rock Creek Facility.” — Bill Gaffi, General Manager, Clean Water Services

Clean Water Services is a wastewater and storm water public utility committed to protecting water resources in Oregon's Tualatin River Watershed. The agency operates four wastewater treatment facilities serving more than 536,000 residents in urban Washington County west of Portland. The wastewater treatment plants operated by Clean Water Services discharge into the sensitive Tualatin River Watershed, therefore effective treatment is crucial to ensure its precious ecosystems are protected.

Clean Water Services' Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Hillsboro, treats approximately 35 million gallons per day (MGD), and the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Tigard treats approximately 26 million gallons per day (MGD).

HISTORIC COLLABORATION Long recognized as an industry leader in innovation, Clean Water Services was the first utility in the United States to implement Ostara’s Pearl® nutrient recovery technology to help meet tight phosphorus discharge regulations (an effluent total phosphorus concentration limit of 0.1 mg/L applies during the summer months) at their Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility. In June 2009, three Pearl® 500 reactors began recovering phosphorus from the digested sludge dewatering stream (centrate) to create a high-value sustainable fertilizer product called Crystal Green®. To date, approx imately 700 tons of Crystal Green fertilizer has been produced and sold to local nurseries and turf farms in the Portland area, as well as to blenders and distributors throughout North America. Before the Pearl process was installed, all but a small fraction of the phosphorus at the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility was trucked out in the form of biosolids which were land applied. Ostara provided Clean Water Services with an alternative – phosphorus not treated as waste but transformed into a premium fertilizer which creates a revenue stream for the utility, and reduces costs for ratepayers.

BACKGROUND

CLEAN WATER SERVICES, ROCK CREEK ADVANCED WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY | HILLSBORO, OREGON

BENEFITS

Implementation of the Pearl® Nutrient Recovery Process at the Rock Creek Facility provides solid benefits both to Clean Water Services and the wider environment by:

• Reducing struvite buildup and costly maintenance problems within the plant;

• Decreasing centrate nutrient load returned for treatment (improving

and reliability);

• Minimizing the need for chemical dosing (lessening the costs of chemical purchase);

• Reducing the amount of biosolids produced (saving disposal costs);

• Reducing phosphorus content of biosolids (providing a new avenue to remove phosphorus from the system);

It takes one seventh the amount of energy to create Crystal Green® as it takes to create an equal amount of conventional fertilizer. Crystal Green is certified by the Oregon State Department of Agriculture. Its unique slow-release characteristics provide a steady, season-long supply of phosphorus and magnesium that is always available to the plant. At a fraction of conventional phosphorus rates, Crystal Green provides plants with the phosphorus they need, when they need it. The most environmentally responsible source of phosphorus available, Crystal Green is made from a renewable resource – wastewater. Its slow-release

THE SOLUTION – PEARL® 2000

Based on the successful operation at the Durham Facility, Clean Water Services and Ostara partnered to install a second nutrient recovery facility at Rock Creek, commencing construction in the summer of 2011.

The facility at Rock Creek features the first installation of the newly designed Pearl® 2000 reactor which has four times the capacity of a Pearl® 500 reactor. The two Pearl 2000 fluidized bed reactors at Rock Creek provide a combined capacity to produce 1,200 tons of Crystal Green® fertilizer every year, compared with an annual capacity to produce 500 tons for the Durham Facility. Clean Water Services is now the largest municipal producer of Crystal Green in the world.

The Durham Facility is also being expanded, with the replacement of one of the Pearl 500 reactors with a Pearl 2000.

formulation reduces the risk of nutrient leaching and runoff, protecting and preserving sensitive waterways such as the Tualatin River and its tributaries.

Crystal Green is distributed to the turf and horticultural sectors throughout the Pacific Northwest in blends from Wilbur-Ellis and Wilco.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Another unique feature of the system is that the heat generated from a 1 MW cogeneration system that burns digester

gnildnah sdilos eht yb detareneg sagoibprocess is being used to heat the nutrient recovery facility and the dryer. Clean Water Services also earned an Oregon Department of Energy Business Energy Tax Credit valued at $1.15 million based on the energy conservation value of recycling phosphorus to produce Crystal Green® compared to producing conventional fertilizer.

The continued partnership with Ostara will help the Rock Creek Facility efficiently meet its nutrient limits, reduce operational costs and optimize the plant’s efficiency. It shifts nutrients in wastewater from being a problem to becoming a valuable resource.

“We used a Crystal Green blend on nearly 100,000 containerized plants and in every case, the Crystal Green plants performed as good or better than our previous practice. The rooting after potting was better with Crystal Green and, because of the efficiency of Crystal Green, our costs went down.”

Matt GoldPresident, Gold Hill Nursery, Hillsboro, Oregon

CLEAN WATER SERVICES / OSTARA PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES WITH WASSTRIP TM

Because the production of Crystal Green® at the Durham Facility was delivering a net income stream, Clean Water Services was interested in maximizing the production of fertilizer by sending as much phosphorus as possible to the

tnetap dna poleved ot secivreS retaW naelC del sihT .ytilicafthe “WASSTRIP™” process – which takes waste activated sludge and holds it under anaerobic conditions to cause the phosphorus accumulating organisms to release phosphorus (P) and magnesium (Mg). Clean Water Services has entered an exclusive partnership agreement with Ostara to sell the WASSTRIP technology and Ostara is currently constructing the first commercial application of WASSTRIP in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

“Ostara’s technology serves an important role in protecting our natural waterways for future generations. It provides a cost-effective solution that benefits the environment at all stages, and truly exhibits the shift that we are seeing towards closed loop, sustainable technologies.”

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Environmental advocate and attorney; Partner, VantagePoint Capital Partners

Ostara is a clean water company that recovers valuable nutrients from used water streams. The company’s proprietary technology, the Pearl® Process, recovers otherwise polluting nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, from municipal and industrial water streams, and transforms them into a slow release, eco-friendly fertilizer marketed as Crystal Green®. The technology helps reduce costs, meet nutrient discharge limits and produce clean water, while the fertilizer provides a new source of revenue for municipalities. Crystal Green (5-28-0 +10% Mg) is a slow release nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium fertilizer that is used in blends by growers throughout North America. Providing full-season nutrient availability to plants and crops, Crystal Green is more efficient and cost-effective compared to conventional phosphorus fertilizers. The company currently has four commercial nutrient recovery facilities in operation throughout North America, and four more under construction, including its first European facility, in London, UK. Ostara is headquartered in Vancouver, BC and has offices in Tampa, FL and Basel, Switzerland. Visit www.ostara.com for more information.

Clean Water Services is a water resources management utility for more than 536,000 people in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego, and Portland. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment facilities, constructs and maintains drainage management and water quality projects, and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat.

Although Clean Water Services maintains a close working relationship with Washington County government, it is a separately managed and financed public utility. The Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility won the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2006 National Clean Water Act Recognition Award for operations and maintenance excellence in large facilities with advanced treatment.

ABOUT CLEAN WATER SERVICES

ABOUT OSTARA

Special recognition to the Oregon Department of Energy for granting a Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) to Clean Water Services for Rock Creek’s Nutrient Recovery Facility. The credit, valued at $1.15 million, is based on the energy conservation value of producing Crystal Green® compared to producing a conventional phosphorus fertilizer.

Crystal Green® is a partner in Audubon International’s sustainable communities initiative.

690 - 1199 West Pender St.Vancouver BC V6E 2R1

T (604) 408 6697 | F (604) 408 4442 E info@ostara.com

Ostara.com

2550 Southwest Hillsboro Highway Hillsboro, Oregon 97123

T (503) 681-3600 | F (503) 681-3603E askus@CleanWaterServices.org.

CleanWaterServices.org

“We view Clean Water Services as a partner in reaching cost- effective and environmentally sound goals to recover nutrients for the highest beneficial re-use. Wastewater is no longer waste but a valuable resource.”

— Phillip Abrary, President & CEO, Ostara