Nanobubble Aeration—

A leap forward in water aeration technology

Nanobubble aeration involves the use of tiny microscopic oxygen bubbles to aerate water. Unlike traditional aerators which pump air (approx. 21% oxygen) into the water to encourage oxygenation, nanobubble aerators inject 95% pure oxygen into the water. This makes nanobubble aerators much more effective at getting oxygen into the water and providing intense aeration than regular aerators.

Our nanobubble aerators can aerate waterbodies up to 5 acres in size. We have nanobubble aerators available for less than $20K, which is a big reduction from similar nanobubble aerators currently on the market for $100K.

Faster to add oxygen to water

Nanobubbles dissolve faster in water than regular bubbles because they are so much smaller; around the size of a viral particle. Being microscopic, nanobubbles act much more rapidly and randomly than regular bubbles. This means they collide and break apart more often when leaving the aerator, adding a lot of oxygen to your water out of the gate.

Bubbles don’t float to surface

Unlike larger bubbles that immediately take off towards the surface and rupture, nanobubbles tend to remain in suspension. This is because of brownian motion, aka the bubbles are so small they move with no preferential direction of flow. In perfect conditions, nanobubbles can remain in your water for up to 2 weeks.

Oxygenates deeper waters

Following on from above, nanobubbles have almost zero buoyancy. This means they don’t travel straight for the surface, but instead tend to follow currents and end up in deeper parts of dams, lakes and wastewater lagoons.

Longer lasting bubbles

Those nanobubbles that don’t collide and break apart when first leaving the aerator tend to stick around for longer than regular bubbles because of the structural integrity of the nanobubbles. It’s like comparing the fragility of a balloon barely blown up compared to one blown to 500 times the size. These mighty little bubbles can hang around for a long time.

Attracted to organic matter

Nanobubbles have a much stronger negative surface charge than regular bubbles. This makes them more attracted to positively charged organic matter like precipitated metals, pollutants and dangerous cyanotoxins. This is a good thing obviously because bringing oxygen to these compounds helps to render them inactive.

Increased levels of oxidation

Nanobubbles have also been shown to release the hydroxyl radical, one of the strongest known oxidants. This can occur when the nanobubbles collapse. The radicals scour surfaces and prevent biofilm growth which not only helps clean irrigation pipes, drip lines etc, but also how much chemical you need. 

Commercial uses of nanobubble aeration

While nanobubble aerators can be used to replace conventional aerators in just about any environment (e.g. residential, mining etc), the three industries below are benefiting enormously from the technology.

Wastewater treatment

The unique oxidising properties of nanobubbles make them ideal for commercial wastewater treatment plants looking to reduce their need for chemicals. As explained above, nanobubbles release the hydroxyl radical, one of the strongest known oxidants, when they destabilise and collapse. These hydroxyl radicals are extremely effective at removing toxic and corrosive compounds like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. 

Nanobubbles also improve the flotation ability of fats, oils, greases, and floatable solids, making it easier to separate unwanted compounds from wastewater. And because nanobubbles have almost zero buoyancy and thus can travel to deeper pockets of water bodies, they are ideal for penetrating flocs of biomass that have settled at the bottom of wastewater lagoons. Encouraging more aerobic biomass, this speeds up the breakdown of toxins to improve the treatment capacity of wastewater plants.

Aquaculture / Aquafarming

With oxygen transfer rates over 95%, nanobubbles are by far the most efficient way to add oxygen to water. For fisheries this means significantly less oxygen needs to be added to the water, reducing total energy costs. And with improved feed conversion ratios and better treatment of parasites and aerobic bacteria, nanobubbles can lower operational costs for fisheries too.

Nanobubbles also help to uniformly add oxygen to your water, preventing stratification of layers.  This provides a more stable, oxygen-rich environment for your fish and gives them access to more of the water body, reducing mortality rates and permitting farmers to grow fish in higher densities without jeopardising quality. Nanobubble aeration can also be used for targeted, chemical-free treatments. For instance, salmon farmers are using nanobubbles to reduce sea lice in their stocks.

Agriculture and Horticulture

Nanobubble aeration is also being used more and more in agriculture and horticulture to improve plant health and ultimately boost levels of harvest. By increasing the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, plants utilising nanobubble aeration can uptake higher levels of key nutrients like calcium and potassium, and gain greater root mass. These same plants have also proven to be more robust, weathering environmental stresses like heat spells and radical shifts in atmospheric conditions. 

Plus extra oxygen in the growing ecosystem means less pathogens, which reduces biofilm, algae and toxic pathogens like pythium and phytophthora. It also means a lower power bill for farmers because more efficient oxygen transfer means less oxygen is needed.