Floating Island International, Inc. (FII)
We are a global company, serving industry sectors to address the water challenges faced every day. Our mission is to bring water back to health by mimicking nature’s own clean-water design abilities. We view nutrients as misplaced resources that can be recovered, harvested and even commercialized. We look forward to bringing our expertise and technology to your part of the world. BioHaven Floating Islands mimic natural wetlands in form and function. Using sophisticated man-made materials, BioHavens are easy to handle and easy to install. Different product models are also available to fit specific purposes: private pond aesthetics, lagoon-scale municipal wastewater treatment, high-energy breakwaters and coastal restoration.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Water Treatment
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
About Us
He was intrigued with biomimicry as a way of solving human problems with solutions modeled on nature. What if we could develop a new and natural stewardship tool which could clean water and, in the process, improve life for all the creatures who live in it?
Bruce brought together a team of engineers and plant specialists who turned to the floating peat bogs of Northern Wisconsin for inspiration: Bruce grew up among these floating islands, where world-record fish are to be found within crystal-clear waters. The team set about “biomimicking” these floating riparian structures.
Using a matrix made of post-consumer materials (recycled plastic drink bottles), they created an island capable of supporting the weight of plants and soil. The fibers within the matrix proved to be excellent material for growing biofilm, while still allowing water to pass through it—the key features of a wetland. This allowed unwanted nutrients to be “eaten” by bacteria forming on the island and in the plant roots. The team called the breakthrough technology BioHaven floating islands.
In 2005, Bruce and his partners opened a BioHaven prototype production facility at the Shepherd Research Farm in Shepherd, Montana and Floating Island International, Inc. was in business. Within the first two years of operation, 1600 islands had been launched in the US and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, UK, Korea and Europe. By 2010, over 4,000 islands had been launched, and over 30 different applications had been identified for floating islands.
In addition to ongoing prototype development, Floating Island International, Inc. offers licensing opportunities to businesses and production facilities worldwide. FII continues to research and develop collaborative pilot projects to quantify BioHaven floating islands’ efficacy.
FII is a subsidiary of successful invention company, Fountainhead, LLC. Floating Island International and Fountainhead together possess an IP portfolio valued in excess of $12 million.
Our Vision
For the past two centuries, much of our world has been focused on population growth and industrialization. Such progress came at a cost, however: the widespread destruction of our wetlands and waterways.
At Floating Island International, we believe that we have the technology to reverse this trend. The answer lies in Biomimicry: duplicating Nature’s processes in a sustainable, efficient and powerful way to achieve impeccable environmental stewardship, for the benefit of all life.
Wetlands are the most productive eco-systems we have. By creating “bio-mimicked” floating wetlands, we are delivering the myriad benefits of a natural wetland to a waterway that, most likely, is itself impaired – while keeping millions of plastic bottles out of the landfill.
Distributed through a network of licensees, Floating Island International products are unmatched in their potential effect on water quality and management. Our floating islands and floating treatment wetlands will continue to impact public and private waterways throughout the world, resulting in clean, oxygenated water and thriving habitats above and below the water line.