How It's Made

Crystal Green® is made from a technology developed by Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies based in Vancouver, BC.

Ostara's proprietary technology was founded by a research group at the University of British Columbia. It is based on a proprietary fluidized bed reactor that recovers ammonia and phosphate from nutrient rich fluids, of which wastewater treatment plants are an ideal source, in the form of a high-value slow-release fertilizer.

At wastewater treatment facilities, Ostara's technology has been able to consistently recover more than 90 per cent of the phosphorus and 20 per cent of the ammonia from wastewater that would normally be recycled back to the plant from the solids processing. Ostara's process integrates directly into the treatment system, processes the sludge liquids and then converts them into a high-quality phosphorus fertilizer in granular form consistent with that used in the fertilizer industry.

Crystal Green is a 99.9 percent pure compound, a slow release form of nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium. It has been tested for purity by British Columbia's Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, which is responsible for the management, protection and enhancement of the province's environment. Crystal Green is actually cleaner than commercially available phosphates that are derived from mined phosphorus.

Crystal Green is currently being produced in suburban Portland at the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Tigard, Ore. Plans are that several other wastewater treatment facilities across North America and Europe will implement the Ostara technology and begin producing Crystal Green within the next two years.