Florida Atlantic University to 3D Print Seaweed Structures to Combat Harmful Algal Blooms

It’s a bad time to be a harmful algal bloom (HAB)! On August 6th, Florida Atlantic University announced that a team of its researchers were awarded an $800,475 grant from the Gulf of America Division U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a technology to prevent HABs from growing. If the name doesn’t give it away, HABs are harmful, and they’re a common threat to lakes, rivers, and coastal waters across the U.S. They put drinking water supplies at risk, deplete oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive, and produce toxins that are dangerous for public health. What’s more, this damage negatively affects local economies who depend on these water sources for tourism and recreation.

The three-year project, which began in July, will target the removal of phosphorus from water, a key driver of HABs. Excess phosphorus enters water via agricultural runoff, wastewater, failing septic systems and urban stormwater, and this can cause “explosive” algal growth. Lake Okeechobee, one of Florida’s most important freshwater resources, has been dealing with HABs for years, fueled by elevated nutrient levels. And because the lake sits at the headwaters of the Gulf of America watershed, phosphorus flowing downstream affects numerous rivers, estuaries and coastal ecosystems. This makes nutrient reduction in the lake vital, as it would improve water quality throughout the region.

A satellite view of Lake Okeechobee on June 12, 2023, showing algae blooms covering about 380 square miles of the lake. (Photo credit:NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.)

Today’s large-scale phosphorus removal methods are often expensive, wasteful, and environmentally challenging. Chemical treatments generate heavy sludge, while biological solutions demand tightly controlled conditions that are difficult to manage in natural bodies of water.