The Nutrient Pollution Problem: Explained
Global health and food security are under significant pressure.
Nutrient pollution is the most widespread water pollution on our planet, while phosphorus (mined) is a non-renewable and rapidly decreasing resource.
Every year over 20 Million Metric tonnes of phosphorus and nitrogen, billions of dollars worth nutrients, leak to the environment from farmlands and cities and cause harmful algal blooms in our waterways resulting in toxic conditions for humans and dead-zones where no aquatic life can survive.
At the same time, untreated human waste and unsafe sanitation practices in developing countries cost more than half a million human lives annually.
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20 Million Metric Tonnes
of phosphorus and nitrogen run-off from mainly agricultural lands end up in our lakes, rivers, and oceans feed algae blooms.
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$200-800 Billion
Estimated cost of socioeconomic damage to our water supply in 2012.
Population by 2050
Recognizing the waste as a valuable resource, treating it effectively, capturing nutrients before they reach waterways, and recycling them back to farmlands as fertilizer is the only sustainable and economical solution.