In an effort to clean area lakes, cows will now produce much more than just Wisconsin’s famed dairy products.
Dane County announced plans Wednesday to develop a system to eliminate phosphorus from cow manure, making it clean enough to drink.
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi selected Beloit-based Aqua Innovations to install the system outside of Middleton.
“Aqua Innovations is excited and honored to partner with Dane County to help the county, its citizens and farmers use our technology which has been proven 100% effective at turning manure into clean water for the past 10 years,” said Joe Cecala, CEO of Aqua Innovations, in a Wednesday statement.
According to Parisi, 1 pound of phosphorus, which is found in manure, can lead to the growth of 500 pounds of toxic algae. Current manure digesters remove about 60 percent of the phosphorus in manure, but the new technology has a nearly perfect removal rate.
Parisi said phosphorus reduction is important to Dane County’s farm-based economy.
"The future is now in our fight to clean up our lakes and I look forward to working with homegrown, Wisconsin innovators on taking our next bold step as leaders in cleaning our lakes," Parisi said in a Wednesday statement.
In 2014, the county took 4,000 pounds of phosphorus out of watersheds in Lakes Mendota and Monona, though Parisi said much more needs to be done.
"From the very basic like working with farmers on how fields are planted, to the very complex like this system that processes brown waste product into purified, clear water, we know it will take a wide range of solutions for us to have continued progress in cleaning the Yahara Chain of Lakes," Parisi said in the statement.
