Contamination

Algae is considered a super food with lots of vitamins and minerals. There is one thing we must master to make this work. We need to be able to keep the algae tank from getting contaminated and growing something else possibly a parasite that would be harmful to consume. The how to quality check and the how to naturally have the tank grow in the right algae food producing way will take some know how.

Offered by Mike.

Check out patent number 4267038: Controlled natural purification system for advanced wastewater treatment and protein conversion and recovery. I am using this as a model to help in the design of a complete sustainable biosystem. It is claimed that the algae produced is sterile. I suppose the water, if put through a tertiary treatment like filtering through sand and ozonisation could be made to be drinkable. The way I understand it, if the conditions are favorable for the strain of algae or any other microorganism you are producing, contamination of the culture is controlled naturally through competitive exclusion.

Offered by Steve

I had the opportunity to talk to a couple of people who work for the company that makes spirulina a couple of weeks ago. They were quick to point out that the algae growing in my Michigan pond was not what they were selling, nor was it what you would get in those many pills that are out there. There are many forms of algae of which spirulina is but one, and some algae are poisonous to humans.

Offered by John.