Patent Application
20080194003
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for producing food and/or feed by generating a concentrated microbial biomass from the degradation of harvested plant material obtained from a monoculture or polyculture plant community, and providing the concentrated microbial biomass for consumption by an intermediary animal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the last 10,000 years, but most significantly in the last 100 years, a series of agricultural practices have been developed for the production of food for consumption by humans. These practices have culminated in today's modern agriculture in which a variety of plants and animals are grown and harvested for food. Modern agriculture usually includes the cultivation of land; selection, planting, and growing of selected single species of plants; irrigation of fields with groundwater from aquifers and surface waters; suppression of other plants that might compete with the selected plants by applying chemicals such as herbicides; suppression and control of various diseases and pests which attack the selected plants by applying chemicals; and the stimulation and promotion of growth and health of the selected plants by applying fertilizers to the fields.
Modern animal production practices usually include raising animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats for meat and/or milk by; grazing on rangelands including pastures, grasslands, and prairies which may be natural or may be planted or seeded with one or more of a variety of desirable plants, such as feed crops; or by feeding the animals grains and other plant products which are produced utilizing one or more of the previously listed modern agriculture practices.
While this modern agriculture has allowed for an unprecedented rise in the world's population, it has also resulted in serious environmental pollution and degradation. In the last 150 years, over half of the world's forests and wetlands have been destroyed so that the land could be used for grazing animals or cultivated for agricultural plant production. Much of the carbon which had been sequestered in the destroyed forests and wetlands has now been released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide where many believe it contributes to global climate change and global warming.
The modern agricultural practices have also led to the pollution of ground and surface waters with nutrients, pesticides, and other chemicals. This reduces and threatens fish populations as well as drinking water supplies. Raising large numbers of animals through conventional techniques also releases significant quantities of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere where again many believe that these gases contribute to global climate change. Modern practices also require excessive irrigation, which both depletes aquifers and increases the salinization of soils.
The continual plowing and cultivation of the land and the widespread use of an increasing variety of pesticides has destroyed a large fraction of the topsoil that once existed. As the organic fraction of the soil has been oxidized it has also been exposed to erosion, which not only depletes the soil but also leads to additional pollution of the groundwaters, lakes, streams, rivers, and even the oceans. A further consequence of this pollution has been the reduction of desirable fish populations in the waters of the earth. Eutrification and decline in water quality, destruction of spawning and nursery habitat, and continual overfishing have depleted many of the populations of the most desirable fish used for human food.
Accordingly, the present invention has been developed in view of limitations, shortcomings and other disadvantages of conventional production practices.
To resolve the environmental problems contributed to and created by modern agriculture this invention presents a novel method of producing food while sequestering large amounts of carbon compared to modern agriculture. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system including a harvested plant material degradation system, a microbial growth system in fluid contact with the harvested plant material degradation system, and an intermediary animal system in biomass-transfer interaction with the microbial growth system.
The harvested plant material degradation system can provide a substrate for the microbial growth system, and the harvested plant material degradation system can include polyculture plant material. The microbial growth system can produce a concentrated biomass, such as having a microbial concentration of at least of at least 108 microbes per milliliter. The intermediary animal comprises worms, annelids, arthropods, mollusks, and/or fish. The system can further include a product animal such as a crustacean, mollusk, fish, bird, pig, goat or cow by the consumption of the intermediary animal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process including the steps of microbially degrading harvested polyculture plant material to form a concentrated microbial biomass, and providing the concentrated microbial biomass to an intermediary animal for consumption by the intermediary animal. The process can also include the step of harvesting the intermediary animal for use as a feed and/or food.
The harvested polyculture plant material can include photosynthetically produced material obtained from more than one species of plant, or photosynthetically produced material obtained from a single species of plant. The intermediary animal may include worms, annelids, arthropods, mollusks, and/or fish.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a food produced by microbially degrading harvested polyculture plant material to form a concentrated microbial biomass, and providing the concentrated microbial biomass to an intermediary animal for consumption by the intermediary animal.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a process for producing a product animal which includes the steps of providing a product animal growth area having an outlet for waste, providing a harvested plant material collection area having an outlet for degradation products, providing a microbial growth system for producing a bacterial biomass having an outlet for effluent, directing at least some waste from the outlet of the product animal growth area to the harvested plant material collection area, directing at least some degradation products from the harvested plant material collection area outlet to the microbial growth system, directing at least some of the microbial biomass produced in the microbial growth system to an intermediary animal for consumption by the intermediary animal, and directing the intermediary animal to product animal growth area for consumption by the product animal. The intermediary animal can include worms, annelids, arthropods, mollusks, and/or fish. The product animal can include crustaceans, mollusks, fish, birds, pigs, goats and/or cows.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for producing a food including at least one food producing unit including a harvested plant material degradation system, a microbial growth system in fluid contact with the harvested plant material degradation system, and an intermediary animal system in biomass-transfer interaction with the microbial growth system. The process also includes at least one plant material production area, means for harvesting plant material from the plant production area for use as a substrate in the food producing unit, and means for delivering liquid effluents from the food producing unit to the plant production area.
The system of the present invention can also include growing a large and diversified plant community such as a forest, prairie, weed field or natural wetland, without using cultivation or pesticides, periodically harvesting a fraction of the plant material produced by the plant community, using this harvested plant material, or products made from this harvested plant material, as a biodegradable substrate which contains minimal toxic components and is not harmful to animals and/or humans, subjecting the plant material to a microbial bioconversion reaction in which some, or as much as possible, of the substrate is converted into a microbial biomass, feeding this microbial biomass as a sole, predominant, or partial food source to an intermediary animal, and providing the intermediary animal for consumption by a product animal or as a direct human food.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an agricultural practice which does not use cultivation or pesticides and which sequesters significant amounts of carbon in a food production practice. The system of the present invention can be used to produce food from land which currently contains a wetland or is forested and which does not currently produce a significant source of food for human consumption. The system of the present invention can eliminate, or minimize pollution of ground and surface waters with nutrients, pesticides and other chemical compounds.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide food and/or feed that is produced in a manner which does not cause significant pollution to the general environment, and sequesters large quantities of carbon, thereby reducing the impact of atmospheric carbon dioxide on global warming. This invention may further enable feed and/or food to be produced on large land areas which are not currently producing feed and/or food, and to do this in an environmentally compatible fashion.
a is a schematic representation of a top view of a combined system including a harvested plant material degradation system, a microbial growth system, and an intermediary animal system in the same physically confined space in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
b is a schematic representation of a side view of the combined system shown in
a is a schematic representation of a top view of a system including a plant growing system and water treatment system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
b is a schematic representation of a side view of the system shown in
a is a schematic representation of a top view of a system including a fish access zone in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
b is a schematic representation of a side view of the system shown in
a is a schematic representation of a top view of a system including additional waste treatment systems in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
b is a schematic representation of a side view of the system shown in
The present invention includes a method of agricultural production in which diverse mixed plant communities are grown, maintained, and partially harvested in a periodic manner so that significant quantities of carbon are sequestered within the persisting plant communities. The periodically harvested plant material is collected and concentrated in a physically defined space. There it is microbially broken down, converted into a microbial biomass which is processed into food for human consumption or animal feeds, or is fed to one or more varieties of small intermediary animals which are in turn used directly for food, used as an animal feed, or used as a raw material for the production of processed foods and animal feeds. The animal excreta or unused byproducts of each stage of production may be recycled back to prior stages where they are used as inputs of nutrients and biodegradable raw materials. Water may also be recycled within the system and parts of the microbial growth systems and production lands can serve a water purification and filtration function.
As shown in
Plant material can be periodically harvested from an environment and this can be performed at a time and in a manner that minimizes the disruption of wildlife that uses that environment. Seeds, nutrients, and water may be introduced into an environment to enhance the amount and quality of plant biomass produced. By harvesting plant material that originates from a plant polyculture growing in an environment, the erosion of topsoil can be reduced and the nutrient and pesticide pollution associated with non point source agricultural runoff can be significantly limited. Land producing a polyculture of plant material can be more agriculturally productive since cultivation is not required, therefore the terrain does not need to be substantially flat.
As used herein, the term “Harvested Plant Material Degradation System” or “HPDM System” means a system for receiving harvested plant material and at least partially degrading at least a portion of the harvested plant material. Referring again to
The harvested plant material may be contacted with an aqueous based liquid, such as submerged in fresh or salt water, have water sprayed or irrigated over and/or through the material, or subjected to an alternating cycle of submergence and irrigation. Nutrients, unused byproducts and animal excreta from subsequent production components, and/or microbial inoculations may be added to the harvested plant material to encourage microbial action, which breaks down the physical structure of the harvested plant material. This involves the breaking of the plant cell walls, the releasing of the cytoplasmic contents, and/or the complete or partial biodegradation of the cellulose, hemicellulose, and/or lignin, which constitute the structural material of the plants. This degradation may occur in any combination of aerobic, micro aerobic, or anaerobic environments, in air, or in fresh or salt water. Organisms involved in this process may include, but are not limited to, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and algae. In one embodiment, non-biodegradable residues 6 can be periodically removed from the system and land applied. The HPDM System 4 can also include a tank, lined cell, silo, bunker silo, concrete pad and/or area of shaped land to collect rainfall and/or leachate.
Referring yet again to
In one embodiment, the microbial growth system 10 utilizes microbial growth to produce a harvestable microbial biomass, which may incorporate the microbes, metabolic byproducts, residues or other non-degraded components of the HPMD System 4. The inputs to the Microbial Growth System 10 may be soluble or particulate in nature and may also include additional nutrients and/or unused byproducts from subsequent production components. This system may employ fixed film or suspended growth systems with or without recycling of solids or liquids. The microbes may grow in aerobic, anaerobic, or anoxic conditions in fresh or salt water, and may include, but not be limited to, facultative microbes, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and unicellular or small algae. This system also includes a means of concentrating and harvesting the produced microbial biomass. This may include the formation and settling of a floc, gravity settling, filtration, centrifugation, or other means of solids separation.
In one embodiment, solid residues from the Microbial Growth System 10 are periodically collected by a variety of conventional dewatering technologies such as gravity settling, filtration, presses, centrifuges, or the like. Excess water is discharged from the Microbial Growth System 10 as a liquid effluent 20.
In one embodiment an HPMD System 4 can directly produce a microbial biomass and this can occur with or without a means of concentrating said microbial biomass. In another embodiment a microbial growth system can act directly on a substrate which has not been previously acted on by an HPMD System 4. Generally such an embodiment is used in cases where the substrate has low concentrations of cellulose, hemicellulose, or lignin, or is a readily biodegradable material such as a food, food byproduct, or animal waste or wastewater.
Referring again to
Any external source of a microbial biomass could be used as the feed stream for the Intermediary Animal System 14 provided that sufficiently low concentrations of toxic constituents are present. Thus residues from wine or beer fermentations, sludges from conventional wastewater treatment plants, biomass residuals from manure management systems, etc. could be used as Intermediary Animal System 14 input sources.
In one embodiment, animal excreta from the intermediary animals can be recycled back to the Microbial Growth System 10 or the HPMD System 4. Animal excreta and/or unconsumed microbial biomass from the Intermediary Animal System 14 can be discharged along with any excess water as a subsystem effluent 16 which is recycled back to other production systems such as the HPMD System 4 or Microbial Growth System 10. Harvested intermediary animals 18 are periodically removed from the Intermediary Animal System 14. In one embodiment the intermediary animals are harvested by mechanically separating the intermediary animals from the system. In another embodiment, the intermediary animals are removed from the system by draining the tank or containment area, gravity settling, hooking, netting, filtering and/or other conventional mechanical separation procedures. In another embodiment, the intermediary animals may self harvest themselves by crawling, swimming, or otherwise moving themselves out of the Intermediary Animal System 14.
In another embodiment as shown in
In another embodiment as shown in
The fish growing system can produce fish that consume the animals grown in the Intermediary Animal System 14 as part or all of their diet. Feed other than the intermediary animal may be used to supplement the diet of the fish. In one embodiment, all or part of the effluent water from a tank housing product animals can be recycled back to the Microbial Growth System 10 or the HPDM System 4. In one embodiment, the recycled effluent can be taken from the bottom of a tank housing the fish in the fish growing system so that the solid excreta produced by the fish are removed. Clean water produced by the Microbial Growth System 10 can be used as influent water 34 for the Product Animal System 30 and excess water is discharged from the Microbial Growth System as effluent 20.
In one embodiment, fish can be sent via 36 to a Processing System 22 which produces cleaned fish and/or fish fillets 38. The unused byproducts from the Processing System 22 can be fed via 26 back to the Intermediary Animal System 14 and/or are recycled back to the HPMD System 4. Animal excreta, unused microbial biomass, and effluent from the Intermediary Animal System 14 are recycled via 16 back to the HPMD System 4 or the Microbial Growth System 10.
In yet another embodiment as shown in
As the harvested plant material is degraded the soluble and small particulate byproducts will be transferred via 8 to a Microbial Growth System 10 which may include an activated sludge type system including a bioreactor 42, clarifier 44, and recycle line 46. In one embodiment, the output from the HPMD System 4 may be further converted into microbial biomass which is embedded into a settleable floc structure. This settleable floc can then be substantially separated from the water in the clarifier 44 and the concentrated microbial biomass may be introduced via 12 into the Intermediary Animal System 14.
The effluent from the clarifier 44 may be used directly as a fresh water feed 34 to the Product Animal System 30, such as a fish raising tank if it has high enough water quality, or it may be diverted back via 48 to the HPDM System 4 or via 50 to the Photosynthetic Production System 40 for land application, or discharged as a final effluent 20.
In one embodiment, the concentrated microbial biomass, such as having about 2 percent solids, may be fed via 12 into large shallow trays or other structures in the Intermediary Animal System 14 where environments conducive to the rapid growth of a series of intermediary animals have been constructed. The intermediary animals, such as crayfish, aquatic worms, oligochaetes, clams, snails, scuds, insect larvae, minnows, and the like may eat the microbial biomass directly. In one embodiment, the intermediary animals can be frequently harvested to maintain optimal population densities for maximum consumption of the microbial biomass and production of the intermediary animals. Animal excreta and unused microbial biomass from the Intermediary Animal System 14 may be returned via 16 back into the HPMD System 4. The harvested intermediary animals may be fed via 28 to the animals in the Product Animal System 30, such as fish in a fish tank, or will be sent via 24 to a Processing System 22.
If the various systems so far described produce something other than a whole product animal, then a Processing System 22 may be included to convert the intermediary animals into a product that is typically consumed by humans. For example, fish, crayfish, clams, snails and the like may require cleaning and processing prior to sale for human consumption. In one embodiment, a Processing System 22 can include a fish cleaning and/or filleting operation. Here the final product would be the cleaned fish or the fish fillets. The unused byproducts produced of this processing operation may be returned back to the Microbial Growth System 10 or the Intermediary Animal System 30. In one embodiment, fish cleaning residues such as guts, heads, fins, bones, and the like can be fed to crayfish in the Intermediary Animal System 30. In a more elaborate form, the Processing System 22 may include a system for converting intermediary animals into a synthetic food. In another embodiment, the Processing System 22 may convert intermediary animals into a pelletized food for feeding to fish.
Referring again to
In yet another embodiment as shown in
The effluent from the clarifier 44 can be used directly as a fresh water feed via 34 to a Product Animal System 30, such as a fish raising tank if it has high enough water quality, or it may be diverted via 52 through a sand filter or a wetland 54 and then via 56 to the Product Animal System 30. In one embodiment, the effluent from the clarifier 44 is introduced via 52 into a constructed wetland for the purposes of aeration, additional filtration and removal of suspended solids, and nutrient removal. This polished effluent then may be used via 56 as the influent water for the Product Animal System 30 or may be recycled back to the HPDM System 4. The effluent may also be land applied via 60 back to the Photosynthetic Production System 40 or sent via 62 to a collection pond 64. From there it may be transferred via 68 for further treatment in a constructed polishing wetland 70. Effluent from the polishing wetland 70 can be used as a fresh water feed 72 to the Product Animal System 30, such as a fish raising tank. Excess effluent can be discharged from the polishing wetland 70 as a final effluent 20.
The concentrated microbial biomass, such as having about 2 percent solids, may be fed via 12 to the Intermediary Animal System 14 and distributed into large shallow trays or other structures where environments conducive to the rapid growth of a series of intermediary animals have been constructed. The intermediary animals, such as crayfish, aquatic worms, oligochaetes, clams, snails, scuds, insect larvae, minnows, and the like may eat the microbial biomass directly. The intermediary animals may be frequently harvested to maintain optimal population densities for maximum consumption of the microbial biomass and production of the intermediary animals. Animal excreta and unused microbial biomass from the Intermediary Animal System 14 may be returned via 16 back into the HPMD System 4. The harvested intermediary animals may be fed via 28 to the animals in the Product Animal System 30, such as fish in a fish raising tank, or sent via 24 to a Processing System 22 which produces feed, food or processed food 18 from the intermediary animals.
In one embodiment, fish are sent via 36 to a Processing System 22 which produces cleaned fish and fish fillets 38. The unused byproducts from the Processing System 22 are recycled back via 26 to the HPMD System 4 or the Microbial Growth System 10. Animal excreta, unused microbial biomass, and effluent from the Intermediary Animal System 14 and the Product Animal System 22 are recycled back to the HPMD System 4 or the Photosynthetic Production System 40, as described earlier.
In another embodiment effluent from a fish raising tank may be returned via 32 to the HPMD System 4. In another embodiment, the effluent may also be diverted to the Photosynthetic Production System 40 depending on flow and water quality requirements for the desired fish to be raised. Runoff from the Photosynthetic Production System 40 may be collected via 66 in a holding area 64, such as a pond, and then transferred via 68 for further treatment in a constructed polishing wetland 70. Effluent from the polishing wetland 70 can be used as a fresh water feed 72 to the Product Animal System 30, such as a fish raising tank. Excess effluent can be discharged from the polishing wetland 70 as a final effluent 20.
A further expansion on this system with additional water retention and treatment provisions is shown in
In the various embodiments of the invention described herein, the HPMD System 4 and Microbial Growth System 10 may operate with total nitrogen concentrations, and in particular with ammonia and ammonium ion concentrations, which are sufficiently low such that the resulting concentrations of ammonia and ammonium ions in the Product Animal System 30 or the Fish System 30a do not interfere with the growth and health of the fish or other product animal. In an alternative embodiment the influent to and effluent from the Product Animal System 30 or the Fish System 30a is uncoupled from the HPMD System 4 and the Microbial Growth System 10, and an additional water treatment system is installed to maintain water quality in the Animal System 30 or the Fish System 30a.
The addition of the additional treatment system for the fish/animal wastes allows for much higher concentrations of nutrients, particularly various forms of nitrogen, to be maintained in the HPMD System 4 and the Microbial Growth System 10. This in turn may increase the rate of microbial conversion of harvested plant material to microbial biomass from that attainable in low nitrogen concentration systems.
As shown in
In another embodiment shown in
In another embodiment of the invention shown in
Waste materials which collect at the bottom of the Fish System, particularly including fish excreta, can be collected and pumped as a recycle back to the HPMD zone where it can serve as a source of nutrients for the microbial degradation processes. In this embodiment the influent stream will enter the Fish System at some distance from the HPMD zone and the effluent stream will exit the total system through the HPMD zone.
As shown in
Referring again to
In the Combined System 123, harvested plant material such as brush, branches, plant stalks, leaves, wood chips, and the like may be placed in an arrangement such that water and/or intermediary animals can penetrate the harvested plant material structures, i.e., to move in between branches. In one embodiment, aeration may be applied to the harvested plant material, such as at the bottom of the area where the harvested plant material is introduced such that the water surrounding the harvested plant material has a measurable dissolved oxygen level. Microbes may grow on the surfaces of the harvested plant material structures, thereby degrading the harvested plant material and creating new microbial biomass. Intermediary animals may then access and feed on this microbial biomass throughout the Combined System 123.
Generally, the harvested plant material in the Combined System 123 is submerged under water at all times. However, in some embodiments of the present invention, a portion, or even all, of the harvested plant material may be stacked above the water level. In these embodiments the harvested plant material may be periodically or continuously irrigated with water and/or nutrients to promote the growth of the microbial biomass.
Referring again to
The recycled wastes from the Fish System 130 may provide nutrients for the microbes degrading the harvested plant material. Additional nutrients could be added to this recycle stream to enhance the microbial degradation of the harvested plant material. In one embodiment, a fish access zone 135 can be provided to allow fish to enter the Combined System Area 123 to feed on the microbial biomass and the intermediary animals. Thus, the connection of the Fish System 130 to the Combined System Area 123 may be large enough to allow even large fish to easily pass between the two systems. By allowing this access, fish may feed on both the bacterial biomass and intermediary animals which live and grow in the Combined System Area 123.
In one embodiment, the system shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the system shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In another embodiment of the invention as shown in
The systems of the present invention can also be utilized to create a fundamentally new method of producing food from natural environments. A preferred embodiment of this feature of the invention is shown in
The liquid effluents from the Food Production Units 210 may be transferred via 220 to a manifold, pipe, channel, canal or stream 230 and conveyed via 240 to a series of Plant Production Units 250 which could comprise flooded or irrigated fields, paddys, production wetlands or the like and which may be lined or unlined depending on soil conditions, water table elevation or other local conditions. These Plant Production Units 250 may be used for growing wild rice or watercress in cold climates or rice and water chestnuts in warm climates. Alternatively, any cultivated plant for which continuous or periodic flood irrigation is applicable could be used.
The effluents from the Plant Production Units 250 are collected via 260 in a final water polishing and distribution system 270. This unit may comprise a wetland, channel or canal that contains plants for filtration of particulate matter and removal of nutrients. The effluent from this final unit may be recycled via 280 and distributed via 205 to the Food Production Units 210, or may be discharged via 200 for use for irrigation in the containing natural environment or discharged to various bodies of water such as wetlands, ponds, streams, or the like within the containing natural environment.
All of the components of this system, except sometimes for the Plant Raising Areas 250, can be located within the natural environment that produces the harvested plant material used by the system. Thus the Food Production Units 210 and the various wetlands, channels, canals and the like represented by 230 and 270 could reside underneath a forest or savannah canopy or the weeds, grasses, bushes and shrubs of various wetland or grassland environments. This would allow significant food and feed production from land currently not used for agricultural production of food and feed and could do so in a manner that would sequester much greater amounts of carbon and water than is possible with conventional agricultural land which is used for the cultivation of grain and vegetable crops.
The above mentioned component systems can be connected via a variety of forward flows whereby the products of the component are transferred to the next system component, and by a series of recycle flows whereby the component byproducts and animal excreta are recycled back to prior components for reutilization within the production process.
In one embodiment the recycle flows originates with the Intermediary Animal System, the Processing System, the Fish System, or the Aeration Wetland, and is directed to the Microbial Growth System, the Harvested Plant Material Degradation System, or the Photosynthetic Production System. The selection of destinations and the partitioning of flows if more than one destination is chosen can be a major part of the management and control system for the total process.
A system of mass balance accounting is also used to control and manage the production process. This mass balance approach will track some or all of the following chemical elements; carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium, potassium chloride, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, and nickel. In general carbon dioxide and water will be fixed into plant material (carbohydrate, cellulose, etc.) in the Photosynthetic Production System. Minerals, salts, and nutrients will be extracted from the earth in the fields and wetlands, and a series of products including fish, feeds, and processed foods will be removed from the system. To balance the elements removed in the products nutrients and minerals will need to be added to maintain the chemical balance in the production lands and in the system itself.
Because parts of the system are open to the surrounding environment it is necessary to maintain a water balance throughout the system. Rain, snow and other forms of precipitation will enter the system and evaporation and evapotranspiration will remove water from the system. Any imbalance in the water inventory will be compensated for by either adding water from an external source or discharging excess water to the environment. If excess water must be discharged it usually will come from the effluent flow from the Microbial Growth System which will pass through an aeration wetland or a filter (such as a sand filter). The excess water will then be further treated by land applying it to the Production Fields where it may overflow into a Collection Pond or by discharging it directly to a Collection Pond or a treatment wetland. Once there it will normally flow through a final polishing wetland and then be discharged to the environment. Other forms of water treatment technology may be applied to meet mandated discharge water quality criteria.
Whereas particular embodiments of this invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details of the present invention may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.
