Science prize aims to solve algal bloom crisis

SANDUSKY — Can a $10 million science prize save Lake Erie and other bodies of water clogged with harmful algal blooms?The George Barley Water Prize, offered by the Everglades Foundation and the Scotts Miracle Gro Foundation and other sponsors, offers $10 million to the winner of a competition to provide an affordable new technology for safely removing phosphorus from large amounts of water.Four finalists for the award have just been selected and will be testing their technology at Lake Jesup, near Orlando, Florida. A winner probably won't be announced until 2021, said Blair Hickey, a publicist for the prize who works for the Zeno Group.Phosphorus is considered a major driver for feeding harmful algal blooms, not just in Lake Erie but in many other bodies of water around the world, so a cheap and effective way to filter it out could have a major impact.Using prize money to move technology forward isn't a new idea. And it's worked in the past.Remember the Orteig Prize?Probably not, but you've likely heard of the guy who won $25,000 for flying nonstop from New York City to Paris, meeting a challenge offered in 1919. Charles Lindbergh claimed the prize after his successful famous flight in 1927.The four George Barley finalists — and one "first runner-up" —reflect the interest around the world in dealing with harmful algal blooms.The finalists, and the money they were awarded, are:• The University of Idaho's Clean Water Machine not only removes phosphorus, it creates byproducts that can help food production. ($125,000).• Wetsus NAFRAD, a not for profit foundation in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, which develops water technologies. ($125,000).• Green Water Solution, a company in Wellington, Florida. ($125,000).• The United States Geological Survey at Leetown Science Center in Kearneysville, West Virginia. ($125,000).In addition to the four finalists, a late entry, ZeroPhos from Nanjing University in China, has been named a "pilot phase first runner up" because its technology is low-cost and very promising. It was awarded $100,000.When the competition began, 104 entries were submitted. Nine entries were selected for a two-year test in cold water conditions in the Lake Simcoe watershed in Canada. The final four will test their entries in warmer conditions at Lake Jesup, near Orlando, Fla.Martin Baker and Greg Moller stand near their Clean Water Machine at the University of Idaho, one of the four finalists for the George Barley Water Prize.