Recovery of phosphorous, nitrogen and water from dairy cow slurry

In December 2024, elentecBio was awarded funding to optimise and scale-up its advanced electrocoagulation technology for processing dairy slurry. The goal is to dewater the slurry and to separate and concentrate the phosphorous and nitrogen into discrete fractions for use on farm or for sale. The remaining water fraction will be purified sufficiently for reuse or discharge. This processing will allow targeted use of slurry nutrients where they are needed, preventing application of excess nutrients in NVZs and areas with high soil P indices.

Here's a brief explainer video:

The process is being scaled–up and optimised on the dairy farm at Harper Adams University where characterisation of nutrient content of the different fractions before and after processing, and assessment of equipment performance is on-going. In early 2026, the potential use of the nutrient fractions as fertiliser will be examined. Bioavailability, leachability and emissions from the nutrient fractions will be monitored with pot-based growth trials of rye grass and spring wheat.

Online information and Q and A session

Throughout the project, elentecBio are keen to discuss and receive feedback from stakeholders on the technology and our findings.

In March 2026 they will be delivering two short online presentations and Q and A sessions, hosted by the School of Sustainable Food and Farming @ Harper Adams University. ElentecBio’s director and chief engineer, Duarte Tito, along with elentecBio’s CEO, Jayne Brookman, and Marie Kirby, lead researcher at Harper Adams University will be present to answer your questions on progress with the trials.

Details will be posted on the elentecBioAg website (https://elentecbioag.com/, and will be sent automatically to anyone who's signed up for news and project up-dates via the website.

This research project is funded by DEFRA as part of their Farming Innovation Programme Nutrient Management competition and is managed via Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.

ElentecBio’s filtration and electrocoagulation unit. The unit has a small footprint (it can be housed in a shipping container) and is fully automated.