Civil Engineering spin-off company harvests wastewater systems for profit

Thursday, July 6, 2017 | By Lindsay Cashin

Journal of Commerce mentioned a wastewater system that was developed at UBC. Professor Don Mavinic’s research led to the spin-off company Ostara, which employs his nutrient recovery technology to extract valuable phosphorous and nitrogen from wastewater, creating a revenue stream for treatment plants while protecting waterways. The article discusses the industry trend toward viewing wastewater treatment plants as resource recovery centres, rather than just costly pollution control centres as they have been viewed traditionally.