We’re all familiar with turf scrubbers and their benefits but South Florida-based SeaVisions think they’ve taken the next step in turf scrubber technology. The SeaVisions Automatic Algae Turf Scrubber (SAATS,) uses light to grow algae which in turn locks up nutrients. The export part of a turf scrubber is then usually conducted by the user, physically removing the algae growth by hand. But with SAATS, it uses automatic roller technology to slowly advance the roll, rolling up a small area of algae growth one bit at a time, while introducing new cloth at the other end on which new algae can populate and grow.
At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a Roller filter/Turf Scrubber hybrid. In a way, it is as some detritus will inevitably be caught and removed by the roll, but unlike a mechanical fleece filter which effectively floods up to a censor point, which advances the roll, as we understand it, the roll is constantly advancing with SAATS, albeit very slowly.
The unit looks large, boasting seven square feet of algae bed exposure and lit by a Viparspectra LED fixture, so it should have the ability to scrub nutrients from considerable water volumes. Its manufacturers state the roll is designed to last three months and costs just under $40. The unit itself is a lot more at $1600 and is supplied without the light.
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