Thames to build first phosphate recovery plant

Thames Water and Canadian company Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies have agreed to build a £2m phosphate recovery plant at Slough sewage treatment works.

It will produce 150 tonnes a year of struvite, a mineral containing ammonia, magnesium and phosphate, which can be used as a slow-release fertiliser.

The plant will be the first of its kind in the UK, although Ostara has four plants in the US and Canada. The struvite is sold in North America under the name Crystal Green, and the Environment Agency has recently approved the product’s use as fertiliser in England and Wales.