New technique being tested to remove algae and excess nutrients from Caloosahatchee

Fox 4 went out on the Caloosahatchee River with a team of scientists and experts on Friday to find out if it actually works.

It’s called Aquaflex, and it’s a type of foam that works just like a sponge to soak up nutrients out of the water. It’s been effective in several states in dozens of disasters.

“My entire life and business was wiped out in oil contamination flood waters in 2006,” says founder Scott Smith, who invented Aquaflex to help remove contaminated water.

“I could not believe that there were no simple technologies to remove oil and water.”

So he came up with this. “It’s made of a foam that at a molecular level it attracts oil like a magnet and repels clear water.”

It’s also proven to remove excess nutrients.

“Which is why we found it promising and we like the idea that it would physically remove the nutrients from the waterway permanently,” says Jennifer Hecker, executive director of Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program.