agriculture
the agricultural water and nutrient challenge
Global Imperatives
- World population growth demands more food from fewer resources
- Agriculture already consumes 72% of abstracted water – forecast to rise to 89% by 2050.
Irrigation Landscape
- 20% of agricultural land is irrigated, producing 40% of global food
- 35% of land could benefit from irrigation, boosting output to 120%
The Water Gap
- 50% of the world’s population is predicted to live under severe water stress by 2040
- Even with modern irrigation, food production caps at 125% – NTPlus takes that to >130%
- Replaces RO as the final stage in Direct Potable Re-use
- Smarter irrigation and direct wastewater reuse closes the water gap
- NTPlus drives both, affordably and sustainably
NTPlus is a scalable, low-carbon, nutrient recovery solution that enables sustainable intensification of agriculture - exactly what the planet needs
NTPlus – enabling smarter, sustainable agriculture
Introducing NTPlus Technology
- Revolutionises ion exchange: produces low chloride nutrients, not waste
- Recovers low-carbon nutrients: potassium nitrate and sulphate of potash – climate change adaption for crops. We simply cannot make it another way
Key Benefits
- Carbon footprint: just 10% of synthetic fertilisers
- Increases food production cap to >130%
- Converts wastewater into high quality irrigation and pipe-parity water
- Product delivery: Nutrient concentrates compatible with rain fed agriculture
Why it matters
- Enhances climate resilience of crops
- Drives improved nutrient and water use
- Makes nitrate treatment affordable and sustainable
- Replaces phosphate removal with phosphate recovery
game changing impact for global agriculture
Environmental and Economic Value
- Recovers better liquid nutrients at beneficial costs to farmers
- Meets nutrient neutrality and the revised EU UWWTD2, cheaper than wetlands
- Nutrient recovery profitable for the water sector, replaces linear, costly removal
- Starts to divorce agriculture from fossil fuel byproducts
Global Applications
- Turns the ‘Nitrate Timebomb’ into a sustainable solution
- Opens up reclaimed water use across all types of agriculture
- Boosts agricultural productivity without increasing freshwater use
- Reduces emissions in both the water and agricultural sectors
designed for farmers
NTPlus uniquely recovers nutrients from wastewater and nitrate removal plants in liquid form, compatible with smart irrigation and greenhouse growing. We produce high nitrate irrigation water, low nitrate drinking water, and convert potash into sulphate of potash – a nutrient that improves a crop’s drought, disease and stress resistance – that has to be good!
proof of concept
Red Russian Kale at 3 weeks, 40% of nutrients recovered at a carbon cost of 1/5th of conventional production
97% of potash (KCl) converted to K2SO4, KNO3 and KHCO3
nitrate
The most common fertiliser. The problem is that nitrate is very mobile in soils, so most just disappears – and this has been going on for decades. There’s now between 7 and 20 years supply of nitrate under our feet, slowly heading down to the aquifers. It’s called the ‘Nitrate Timebomb’.
We’ve turned that into a sustainable solution.
This is already impacting aquifers in agricultural regions around the world. Water companies can take it out, the best available technology is ion exchange, but this uses a lot of salt and produces a brine nitrate waste stream.
That is just the wrong answer – we get the nitrate back on the farm.
wastewater
As a final effluent treatment process, this recovers high quality irrigation water with extra N in it, produces low N drinking water, and converts potash to sulphate of potash.
Ideal for rural communities in arid regions with irrigated agriculture.
Ideal feed for a low run-off greenhouse growing system, potentially also using waste heat from the water treatment plant.
Products can be concentrated up to be used as a liquid fertiliser with boom sprayers on the back of a tractor.
wastewater
As a final effluent treatment process, this recovers high quality irrigation water with extra N in it, produces low N drinking water, and converts potash to sulphate of potash.
Ideal for rural communities in arid regions with irrigated agriculture.
Ideal feed for a low run-off greenhouse growing system, potentially also using waste heat from the water treatment plant.
Products can be concentrated up to be used as a liquid fertiliser with boom sprayers on the back of a tractor.
let's bring the circular economy
to agriculture with NTPlus
NTPlus uniquely recovers nutrients from wastewater and nitrate
removal plants in liquid form, compatible with smart
irrigation and greenhouse growing.
let's bring the circular economy to agriculture with NTPlus
NTPlus uniquely recovers nutrients from wastewater and nitrate removal plants in liquid form, compatible with smart irrigation and greenhouse growing.