Professor David Bagley and Hydromantis Inc. Turning Wastewater into a Resource

Governments and the private sector invest significant time and money into treating wastewater to ensure that it is safely discharged into the environment. Now, the Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc. and Hydromantis Inc. are working with Professor David Bagley at the University of Toronto, to create an energy benefit out of the wastewater treatment process: generating Hydrogen for use in fuel cells.

Using anaerobic microbiological processes, Dr. Bagley is developing a process that converts the organic materials in wastewater into hydrogen. That hydrogen can then be readily converted to electricity in a fuel cell.

The first beneficiaries of the resulting hydrogen-based energy could be wastewater treatment facilities themselves, which would use the hydrogen electricity they generate to power their own operations. Other industries, like pulp and paper, food and beverage, chemical production and pharmaceuticals can also turn the unavoidable cost of treating their wastewater into energy that will power their plants. They may, indeed, be able to sell excess energy for additional revenues.

Dr. Bagley and Hydromantis Inc., the industrial investor and receptor of the technology, expect to pilot the process this year.