FNP

What the Ansari X Prize was to space travel, The Grand Challenge could be to water quality and world hunger.

Whereas the X Prize offered $10 million to anyone who could launch a spacecraft 62 miles above the Earth twice within two weeks (Mojave Aerospace Ventures won the prize in 2004), The Grand Challenge, which is administered by the Everglades Foundation, will pay $10 million to an individual or team who can develop a process to remove phosphorus from waterways and recycle it to be used as fertilizer for the world's food supply.

"This prize is a huge opportunity to find a science-based solution to an environmental problem not only in Florida but around the world," Melodie Naja, Everglades Foundation chief scientist, said Monday. "Phosphorus is important to grow food. At the same time, the supply of phosphate is diminishing. If we could solve both problems that would be great."

Southwest Floridians are familiar with how phosphorus harms area waterways: During and after major rain events, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases massive amounts of phosphorus-laced water down the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee.

That phosphorus, which comes from fertilizer, sewage and animal waste, triggers massive harmful algal blooms that foul beaches, kill fish and smother seagrasses.

Southwest Florida isn't alone: Last month, phosphorus caused an algal bloom in Lake Erie that forced officials in Toledo, Ohio, to ban the use of tap water.

On Wednesday, the Everglades Foundation will officially announce The Grand Challenge in Chicago but held a telephone conference about the prize Monday for Florida media.

"The reason we're doing it this morning is that the news coming out of Toledo caused people to say, 'What kinds of solutions are out there to avoid what we saw in Toledo?' " Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg said. "Things have to change. The private sector has to step forward to solve the problem.

"The government can't solve the problem. It doesn't have those kind of dollars. It's time for competition and innovation to come forward."

To win the $10 million, which has been provided by a single anonymous donor, an individual or team must develop a way to reduce phosphorus levels to 40 parts per billion; phosphorus levels in Lake Okeechobee fluctuate, but Naja said water entering the lake from the Kissimmee River has phosphorus levels of 250 to 350 parts per thousand.

The Grand Challenge will be formally launched in February 2015, and Everglades Foundation officials expect the prize to be awarded by 2022.

An additional $1 million will be awarded in various subcategories during the seven years of the competition.

"Many companies are interested in solving this problem," Naja said. "Many researchers at universities are working on the phosphorus problem. I bet we'll see many applicants who would like to solve The Grand Challenge."