Site-specific sulfate standards for wild rice waters: Will they work?
September 15, 2023: "The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has been trying for years to figure out how to get taconite mines and wastewater treatment plants to reduce the sulfate in their effluent because it damages wild rice," Stephanie Hemphill reports in Agate. "The current...
Why care about sulfate?
May 2023: A panel discussion titled "Why Should Minnesotans Care About Sulfate?" brought together four speakers with scientific, legal, and tribal affiliations on April 3, hosted by the nonprofit Water Legacy. Watch the video in full here (110 minutes).  Some highlights: At 2...
Mining professionals talk sulfate at SME Conference
In April, Clearwater BioLogic had a successful presence at Minnesota's annual SME Conference with in-depth explanations on the technology of sulfate reduction. Hosted by the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, the gathering focused largely on the greening of iron and...

For decades, rising sulfate levels in the nation’s waters have been a problem without an affordable solution. Due largely to industrial outputs and atmospheric trends, sulfate pollution has drawn increasing concern from environmental regulators and often stymied industrial cleanup efforts.

But a solution is now at hand: Clearwater BioLogic has developed an efficient, cost-effective sulfate remediation system that offers the first true alternative to reverse osmosis systems. For industries such as mining that have found RO too expensive, Clearwater BioLogic offers a breakthrough tool that reduces sulfate to targeted levels, complying with water quality regulations and bringing win-win solutions to multiple stakeholders. This three-step process can achieve any such target—even if the goal is zero– by reducing the sulfate biologically, converting it to sulfur, and removing it.

The process has been developed and tested in a demanding setting: northern Minnesota, where taconite mines have contributed to high sulfate levels, and where nearby native wild rice beds are highly sulfate-sensitive. With these challenges on both sides of the equation, the sulfate solution developed here is one that can be applied confidently in any setting.

This brief video frames the issue in northern Minnesota.

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Can science settle the dispute over wild rice? Babbitt native says yes, by imitating nature

MPR NEWS - by Elizabeth Dunbar - St. Paul - May 15, 2018

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