Bioreactor Cranberry Bogs

On July 28th, Barnstable Clean Water Coalition partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency, The Nature Conservancy, and Mount Holyoke College to install a woodchip-based bioreactor in an existing ditch in Hamblin’s Cranberry Bog. What we are hoping to achieve is the nutrient content reduction of water that comes to the surface before it reaches the Marstons Mills River. This environmentally friendly project relies on the natural denitrifying bacteria in the wood chips to “eat” the nitrogen in the groundwater. The goal of this project is to learn as much information as we can about how such a bioreactor will function in order to guide a larger scale project. If everything goes well, you may even see them pop up around you!