Cost-Effectively Meet Nutrient Discharge Requirements
Challenge
Water quality and availability is a global challenge. Recovering the valuable resources embedded in wastewater is a key, global opportunity and challenge.
Today, nearly 80% of all wastewater is discharged into the world's waterways where it creates economic, health, and environmental challenges. Population growth and urbanization further intensify this challenge with increasing wastewater generation that places more pressure on clean water resources. In the U.S. alone, nutrient pollution affects over 14,000 water bodies resulting in 3.5 million acres of lakes and reservoirs not meeting federal, state, or local water quality requirements. Increasingly, an additional step in the treatment process is necessary to remove these nutrients as federal and state guidelines have become more rigorous.
Existing wastewater treatment solutions expose two fundamental challenges:
Challenge 1: Current systems are costly, disposal-based linear systems. Legacy technology was designed and built with the mentality of removal: we make, we use, we dispose. The consequences of this approach result in:
-
Cost and disposal centric designs,
-
Significant chemical and operating expenses, and
-
Lack the ability to scale and meet the increasing demand for higher water quality.
Challenge 2: Current systems are inefficient at removing nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus. When discharged this leads to polluted waterways. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the water causes algae to grow faster than ecosystems can handle and result in:
-
Human and animal health hazards,
-
Environmental damage, and
-
Economic and social impacts.

Solution
CLEARAS delivers a sustainable, low-carbon wastewater treatment solution that recovers nutrients and transforms waste to value for customers and partners. Through the unique application of biomimicry, ABNR™ leverages nature’s time-tested patterns of nutrient recovery by taking the problem (algae blooms) and turning it into the solution.
As a bolt-on solution to existing infrastructure, ABNR™ manages and controls the relationship between mechanical and biological processes in a continuous flow environment to recover phosphorus, nitrogen and other contaminants prior to discharge. The problem is the solution.
ABNR™ is a sustainable and regenerative approach to nutrient treatment. It achieves best-in-class water quality, is modular and scalable, and produces a plant-based biomaterial co-product. That co-product is upcycled into diversified and growing markets including plastics, foams, feeds, and soil enhancements. Customers benefit from a residual income stream created from the sale and upcycling of this valuable plant-based biomaterial.
ZERO-WASTE SOLUTION
Creates an income producing by-product
LOWER
O&M COSTS
Chemical-free solution avoids costly disposal fees
MULTI-CONSTITUENT REDUCTION
Ultra low-levels of phosphorus, nitrogen, biological oxygen demand and total suspended solids
EASILY INTEGRATES WITH FACILITY
Modular design scales to any available footprint
How it Works
Watch to Learn More
— John Bond, Public Works Director,
Village of Roberts, WI
“After seeing the "no detect" level results of the ABNR™ system, we were confident in moving forward with integrating the CLEARAS solution into our facility. There was also a need to ensure we were selecting a sustainable solution to address short-term phosphorus regulation and future regulation around constituents such as nitrogen.”