Improving Water Quality with Wood Chip Bioreactors

Untreated agricultural runoff has major impacts on local water quality. The use of fertilizer and other byproducts increase the levels of nitrates in the water. Consuming excess nitrates impacts how the blood carries oxygen. Nitrates occur naturally, but excess levels in drinking water can cause serious health problems, particularly for infants, people with anemia, and people with heart or lung disease.

Denitrifying bacteria naturally convert nitrates into nitrogen gas, which is harmless and makes up roughly 78% of the air we breathe. This reaction occurs normally in streams, wetlands, and other natural systems.

By concentrating denitrifying bacteria and agricultural runoff, nearly 100% of the nitrates can be safely converted to nitrogen gas. Wood chip bioreactors replicate natural systems, concentrate the growth of the denitrifying bacteria, and safely and effectively remove nitrates from the water.