Vietnam's Intellectual Property Office has accepted the valid patent application filed by ASTRI Institute for an integrated three-function wastewater treatment system designed for aquaculture. The milestone reflects a research direction closely tied to the most pressing challenges facing Vietnam's aquaculture sector.

Context: environmental pressure in aquaculture

Aquaculture, particularly intensive and super-intensive shrimp farming, is one of Vietnam's flagship economic sectors, generating billions of dollars in exports each year. High productivity, however, comes with large volumes of wastewater containing feed residues, animal waste, and excess nitrogen and phosphorus. Left untreated, this effluent causes eutrophication, spreads disease, and degrades the very farming areas it comes from.

The core innovation

The patented system links water treatment, fertilizer recovery, and cultivation processes into a continuous reaction chain, maximizing the reuse of nutrients in wastewater rather than discharging them into the environment. Instead of treating each stage independently, the design connects them so that the output of one process becomes the input of the next.

  • Recovers surplus nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus) for reuse as fertilizer
  • Reduces organic pollution load before water returns to ponds or the environment
  • Partially closes the water loop, lowering dependence on external water supply
  • Cuts disease-outbreak risk through better water-quality control

Field trial results

Trials at a super-intensive shrimp farm in Ca Mau delivered impressive results: significantly reduced water-treatment costs, improved farming efficiency, and better protection of the surrounding environment. As one of Vietnam's largest shrimp hubs, Ca Mau offers a realistic setting to validate the technology under actual production conditions.

Wastewater treatment should aim higher than "clean and discard"; the goal is to turn effluent into a reusable resource within the production cycle itself.

Significance and ASTRI's role

A domestic institute independently developing and protecting its own patent signals the maturing of local scientific capacity. As Vietnam shifts toward green agriculture and a circular economy, affordable, locally suited solutions are decisive. This achievement affirms ASTRI Institute's research and development capability in sustainable aquaculture. Guided by its mission to connect science with practice, ASTRI continues to pursue practical technologies that help farmers and businesses improve efficiency while protecting the environment.