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Bioreactors becoming a more viable water quality option

A professor at the University of Illinois says bioreactors are a proven water quality improvement option for farmers.

Dr. Laura Christianson tells Brownfield the technology is about 20 years old, and there are currently 50 to 70 bioreactors across the Midwest.

“The simplest way to describe (a bioreactor) is a trench filled with wood chips that you route your tile drainage through.”

She says tile lines often contain nitrates that leach out of fields, and the bioreactor acts as a cleaning agent.

“Inside the wood chip bioreactor, there’s good bacteria that colonize the wood chips, and as the nitrates float by them inside this trench, the good bacteria convert the nitrate to stable, non-harmful nitrogen gas.”

She says another benefit is that bioreactors don’t require taking land out of production.

While the installation can cost approximately $10,000 dollars, there is cost-share available through USDA; and Christianson points out that there is minimum maintenance required over the ten year life span of the bioreactor.