British Columbia's Don Mavinic receives 2010 Manning Innovation Award for techno-fix that could help feed the world

Phosphorus Recovery System Turns Problem Waste into Valuable Product  

Dr. Donald S. Mavinic is the creative force behind a unique technology to recover the vital nutrient phosphate from otherwise pipe-clogging and polluting compounds in wastewater. He and his research team at the University of British Columbia have received a 2010 Manning Innovation Award for a now globally applied technology in recovering nutrients (especially phosphorus) from wastewater.

“I don’t worry so much about oil, because you have alternate sources of energy. I worry about water and I worry about phosphorus. Without ‘em, nothing can live," states Dr. Mavinic. 

“The UBC research effort has been all about producing a sustainable and marketable fertilizer; and we have succeeded! We have demonstrated that we can produce a slow-release and non-burning fertilizer from sewage. As long as there are people, sewage-based fertilizer will be a renewable and sustainable resource," explains Dr. Mavinic.

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story posted on theWater Bucket website, click on British Columbia's Don Mavinic receives 2010 Manning Innovation Award for techno-fix that could help feed the world

Also, to learn more about the education and career of Don Mavinic, click on Engineering grad's fertile solution rooted in UWindsor experience