First, inversion and oxygenation enable beneficial bacteria, insects, and fish to thrive on the bottom. In this process, beneficial bacteria feed on the organic matter, and the organic sediment is biodegraded to carbon dioxide (which the CLEAN-FLO Process and aeration system exhausts into the atmosphere) and water. Insects feed on the organic matter and the bacteria; fish feed on the insects. The result is an overall improvement in fish health and growth rate. In any water body, when the bottom is oxygenated, phosphorus and nitrogen in the water column is bound to the sediment where it becomes food for the beneficial bacteria and insects.

Second, inversion and oxygenation will reduce disease-causing bacteria. Many pathogens are strict anaerobes and require a nutrient broth for survival, and practically all pathogens are killed by ultraviolet light emitted by the sun. Also, aerobic bacteria feed on pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, as a result of highly oxygenating the water body, creating an environment where aerobic bacteria thrive, reducing the nutrient media, raising the pH, and exposing pathogenic bacteria to sunlight, these pathogens are weakened or killed.

As a result of a river improvement project that utilized the CLEAN-FLO inversion and oxygenation aeration system technology, the City of Fourmies, France has been awarded the “Prix de l’Environment” award for cleaning up the Helpe Mineure River. Engineers worked with CLEAN-FLO International during the river restoration project. Approximately 43 kilometers of the Helpe Mineure River had been classified by the French Government as unsuitable for any use. The river was polluted with wastewater from a screw manufacturing plant, in addition to raw sewage from the city. The entire stretch of the formerly polluted river is now suitable for fishing, washing, and drinking water for animals.