Water, as we all know, is a terrible thing to waste. But for businesses that go through a lot of water—dairy farmers, wineries and sewage plants—vast quantities of wastewater is an unfortunate byproduct.
But since 1995, Chilean company BioFiltro has recycled more than 28 billion gallons of water to date with this humble organism: the worm.
The worm's invaluable contribution to crop health goes all the way back to Charles Darwin, who detailed their digestive capabilities in his 1881 book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through The Action of Worms.
BioFiltro's BIDA System is a closed-loop biological wastewater treatment system. The worm-and-bacteria powered process can remove up to 99 percent of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and 70-90 percent removal of nitrogen, oil and grease in four hours, according to BioFiltro’s regional manager Mai Ann Healy.
Healy told EcoWatch that "most other treatment systems require days, if not weeks, to achieve these results."
BioFiltro currently has 129 facilities installed in six countries. They process the wastewater from the Chilean Air Force Base on Antarctica as well as the Atacama Desert, which is the driest desert in the world. The company is currently constructing plants in California to serve the needs of food processors, wineries, waste haulers and sanitary waste, Healy said.
Recently, the company teamed up with Fetzer Vineyards to become the first winery the U.S. to use the system to process 100 percent of its wastewater. The Mendocino, California-based winery will use "billions" of earthworms to process its winery wastewater during the 2016 harvest season, a press release states. In doing so, Fetzer will accrue energy savings up to 85 percent over current wastewater treatment technologies.
Healy took the time to answer a few of EcoWatch's questions via email.
EcoWatch: What makes worms so good at filtering wastewater?
Healy: Worms in and of themselves are not great at filtering wastewater. Rather, worms target the solids (or TSS) and break this waste down in their stomachs. Their excrement (worm castings) are rich in microbial activity.
This bacteria is aerobic, or needs air to function, and the burrowing earthworms create air channels throughout our system thereby bringing air to these tiny soldiers and creating an optimum living environment. This symbiotic relationship between worms and bacteria is what powers our systems, as the bacteria target the BOD of wastewater, the worms target the TSS and nitrogen.
Ultimately, our BIDA System converts wastewater into a reusable asset and contaminants into nutritious fertilizer onsite.
EcoWatch: Can I drink worm-filtered water?
Healy: You cannot drink the water that comes straight out of our system. In the wastewater world, the term is primary, secondary and tertiary filtration. Our systems as a stand-alone provide secondary filtration. Water from secondary filtration can be reutilized for select agricultural purposes but not human consumption. Water for human consumption must have tertiary filtration which is a disinfection process.
Almost 5pm and #worms are thirsty for #wastewater. Contact us for #sustainable WWT solutions #FridayFeeling https://t.co/Aru8OUSG2U— BioFiltro (@BioFiltro)1460755966.0
EcoWatch: Who started the company and why?
Healy: The first commercial scale plant was installed in 1995 by our chief technology officer, Alex Villagra. He first started studying the ability of worms to digest waste and wastewater while he was studying at the University of Chile and accredits his continued interest to the fact that "oftentimes the answers to the world's most complex problems are right in front of us—products of billions of years of research and development, mother nature shows us, through her natural processes and designs, that she does know best."
Villagra spent many years going through iterations of design, bacteria and worms. In 2010, Villagra teamed up with Matias Sjogren and Rafael Concha, all three of whom are engineers, to form what is now BioFiltro. The mission was to scale and globalize this revolutionary approach as all three are inspired to show the world how natural processes are capable of not only treating wastewater in a more efficient way, but also procuring a safer environment for future generations.
EcoWatch: Why are earthworms/microbes ideal for winery wastewater?
Healy: Winery wastewater is rich in sugars—worms and bacteria love sugar. The amount of worms present in our system is related to the wastewater quality—facilities that discharge water high in sugars, proteins, and fats (so wineries, milk/cheese/ice cream plants, slaughterhouses) have a very dense worm population.
EcoWatch: Are there really billions of worms in Fetzer's system?
Healy: We have some systems that achieve worm densities of 12,000 worms per cubic yard and that's not counting all the microscopic biology present. Fetzer’s system will have billions of worms and bacteria working tirelessly to reduce waste.
Honored that @fetzerwines is installing our system to treat #wastewater with #worms https://t.co/uyzZ8yPCKK https://t.co/J4qyZc7tUC— BioFiltro (@BioFiltro)1459964672.0
EcoWatch: How big or deep is the BIDA System? What does inside of it?
Healy: The layers are described here but essentially our BIDA System is an open-top structure, typically made out of concrete (concrete floor, 4 walls, open top). The layers, from bottom to top, are 1. drainage basins placed on the floor which create an air chamber; 2. geotextiles; 3. river cobble; 4. wood shavings. The size depends on how many gallons will be applied per day as well as the contaminant level—the dirtier the water, the larger our system.
When BioFiltro commissions a plant, we inoculate the wood shavings with a specific mix of worms and bacteria. Our systems are modular and scalable, so we can serve the needs of an individual household up to mega food processors. Our largest facility is a 2 million gallon per day food processor in Chile.
EcoWatch: What kind of maintenance does it require?
Healy: Our telemetry system is constantly monitoring various water quality parameters so that BioFiltro can ensure optimum system performance. Major maintenance tasks are executed by BioFiltro and consist of removing the worm castings. Over time, the top layer turns into castings (worm poop), which is a natural and highly nutritious fertilizer, and the castings must be harvested to keep the system aerobic. When we do this, we simply replenish with a layer of fresh wood shavings. Occasionally BioFiltro must also separate and remove worms from the system as they multiply exponentially.
EcoWatch: What makes the BIDA System unique? What are some of the advantages of using it?
Healy: It's energy-efficient. We use up to 95 percent less energy than traditional wastewater technologies to deliver the same, if not better, quality effluent. Many dischargers could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, each year just to power the aerators used to clean their water. Fetzer, for example, is expecting to reduce its energy consumption by 1 million kWh each year as a result of implementing our system.
It's natural. Our standalone BIDA System does not require the use of any chemicals. It’s also virtually odor-free as we process the wastewater within approximately four hours of being discharged from the client’s facility.
It's sludge-free. Since our worms and bacteria digest everything there is no sludge, which is a typical byproduct of wastewater treatment. The only "byproduct" of our system is the nutritious castings which are actually a highly sought-after value-added product.
It's simple to operate. We design our system with the client in mind and, thanks to our telemetry monitoring system, can provide a largely hands-off wastewater treatment solution. The client can therefore focus on their core business while our system runs automatically and mostly autonomously.
The BIDA System is a decentralized closed system. By offering a complete wastewater treatment system that is easy to operate, we empower rural clients and communities who otherwise would have no access to fresh water. For example, we have a site in Patagonia, in Torres del Paine National Park, which is inaccessible by car and needs to treat its water so that it does not pollute the beautiful landscape around it. There, we enable them to responsibly care for their site. In other communities, we empower those with limited access to recycle water for agricultural purposes.
EcoWatch: What are the goals of the company?
Healy: The goal is to prove that this natural process, a product built on 21 years of R&D, offers the best solution to wastewater technology. We have treated more than 28 billion gallons of wastewater. Our motivation is to implement water filtration systems that reduce dependency on freshwater sources while improving the environment in which our clients operate.
Where there's a #worm there's a #wastewater way! Supplying our #natural #wastewater plant in #patagonia #chile https://t.co/pl5YgdMwIQ— BioFiltro (@BioFiltro)1460155466.0
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Though made in large part of plastic, glass, ceramics, gold and copper, they also contain critical resources. The gallium used for LEDs and the camera flash, the tantalum in capacitors and indium that powers the display were all pulled from the ground — at a price for nature and people.
"Mining raw materials is always problematic, both with regard to human rights and ecology," said Melanie Müller, raw materials expert of the German think tank SWP. "Their production process is pretty toxic."
The gallium and indium in many phones comes from China or South Korea, the tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo or Rwanda. All in, such materials comprise less than ten grams of a phone's weight. But these grams finance an international mining industry that causes radioactive earth dumps, poisoned groundwater and Indigenous population displacement.
Environmental Damage: 'Nature Has Been Overexploited'
The problem is that modern technologies don't work without what are known as critical raw materials. Collectively, solar panels, drones, 3D printers and smartphone contain as many as 30 of these different elements sourced from around the globe. A prime example is lithium from Chile, which is essential in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.
"No one, not even within the industry, would deny that mining lithium causes enormous environmental damage," Müller explained, in reference to the artificial lakes companies create when flushing the metal out of underground brine reservoirs. "The process uses vast amounts of water, so you end up with these huge flooded areas where the lithium settles."
This means of extraction results in the destruction and contamination of the natural water system. Unique plants and animals lose access to groundwater and watering holes. There have also been reports of freshwater becoming salinated due to extensive acidic waste water during lithium mining.
But lithium is not the only raw material that causes damage. Securing just one ton of rare earth elements produces 2,000 tons of toxic waste, and has devastated large regions of China, said Günther Hilpert, head of the Asia Research Division of the German think tank SWP.
He says companies there have adopted a process of spraying acid over the mining areas in order to separate the rare earths from other ores, and that mined areas are often abandoned after excavation.
"They are no longer viable for agricultural use," Hilpert said. "Nature has been overexploited."
China is not the only country with low environmental mining standards and poor resource governance. In Madagascar, for example, a thriving illegal gem and metal mining sector has been linked to rainforest depletion and destruction of natural lemur habitats.
States like Madagascar, Rwanda and the DRC score poorly on the Environmental Performance Index that ranks 180 countries for their effort on factors including conservation, air quality, waste management and emissions. Environmentalists are therefore particularly concerned that these countries are mining highly toxic materials like beryllium, tantalum and cobalt.
But it is not only nature that suffers from the extraction of high-demand critical raw materials.
"It is a dirty, toxic, partly radioactive industry," Hilpert said. "China, for example, has never really cared about human rights when it comes to achieving production targets."
Dirty, Toxic, Radioactive: Working in the Mining Sector
One of the most extreme examples is Baotou, a Chinese city in Inner Mongolia, where rare earth mining poisoned surrounding farms and nearby villages, causing thousands of people to leave the area.
In 2012, The Guardian described a toxic lake created in conjunction with rare earth mining as "a murky expanse of water, in which no fish or algae can survive. The shore is coated with a black crust, so thick you can walk on it. Into this huge, 10 sq km tailings pond nearby factories discharge water loaded with chemicals used to process the 17 most sought after minerals in the world."
Local residents reported health issues including aching legs, diabetes, osteoporosis and chest problems, The Guardian wrote.
South Africa has also been held up for turning a blind eye to the health impacts of mining.
"The platinum sector in South Africa has been criticized for performing very poorly on human rights — even within the raw materials sector," Müller said.
In 2012, security forces killed 34 miners who had been protesting poor working conditions and low wages at a mine owned by the British company Lonmin. What became known as the "Marikana massacre" triggered several spontaneous strikes across the country's mining sector.
Müller says miners can still face exposure to acid drainage — a frequent byproduct of platinum mining — that can cause chemical burns and severe lung damage. Though this can be prevented by a careful waste system.
Some progress was made in 2016 when the South African government announced plans to make mining companies pay $800 million (€679 million) for recycling acid mine water. But they didn't all comply. In 2020, activists sued Australian-owned mining company Mintails and the government to cover the cost of environmental cleanup.
Another massive issue around mining is water consumption. Since the extraction of critical raw materials is very water intensive, drought prone countries such as South Africa, have witnessed an increase in conflicts over supply.
For years, industry, government and the South African public debated – without a clear agreement – whether companies should get privileged access to water and how much the population may suffer from shortages.
Mining in Brazil: Replacing Nature, People, Land Rights
Beyond the direct health and environmental impact of mining toxic substances, quarrying critical raw materials destroys livelihoods, as developments in Brazil demonstrate.
"Brazil is the major worldwide niobium producer and reserves in [the state of] Minas Gerais would last more than 200 years [at the current rate of demand]," said Juliana Siqueira-Gay, environmental engineer and Ph.D. student at the University of São Paulo.
While the overall number of niobium mining requests is stagnating, the share of claims for Indigenous land has skyrocketed from 3 to 36 percent within one year. If granted, 23 percent of the Amazon forest and the homeland of 222 Indigenous groups could fall victim to deforestation in the name of mining, a study by Siqueira-Gay finds.
In early 2020, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill which would allow corporations to develop areas populated by Indigenous communities in the future. The law has not yet entered into force, but "this policy could have long-lasting negative effects on Brazil's socio-biodiversity," said Siqueira-Gay.
One example are the niobium reserves in Seis Lagos, in Brazil's northeast, which could be quarried to build electrolytic capacitors for smartphones.
"They overlap the Balaio Indigenous land and it would cause major impacts in Indigenous communities by clearing forests responsible for providing food, raw materials and regulating the local climate," Siqueira-Gay explained.
She says scientific good practice guidelines offer a blueprint for sustainable mining that adheres to human rights and protects forests. Quarries in South America — and especially Brazil — funded by multilaterial banks like the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group have to follow these guidelines, Siqueira-Gay said.
They force companies to develop sustainable water supply, minimize acid exposure and re-vegetate mined surfaces. "First, negative impacts must be avoided, then minimized and at last compensated — not the other way around."
Reposted with permission from DW.