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Drainwater released from greenhouse horticulture contains salts and nutrients, which are an environmental load on hydrological systems and which are taxed with discharge levies. Moreover, the valuable nutrients are wasted.
Due to the salt content (3 ppt or 12 ppt in concentrated form) of the drain water, it could be suitable for the cultivation of algae species that grow in brackish water or for adaptive marine algae species. The algae would extract valuable nutrients from the drain water, thereby reducing the inorganic environmental load. The cultured algae product could be suitable for the supplementary production of another aquaculture product, such as shellfish; these production systems could be linked to each other.
Because these possibilities are new, there are still a number of unknowns, such as selecting suitable species of algae, their nutritional value for oysters and food safety risks. These parameters are being investigated based on a desk study, which is linked to laboratory experiments.
Brachiomonas submarina algae (photography NIOO-CEME)
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