http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130130082250.htm
January 30th, 2013
The University of Oklahoma has
recently discovered a new method of naturally cleaning pollutants from water
sources. The new method has been applied to rivers and lakes in Oklahoma, as
well as the excessively over-polluted rivers of Potosi, Bolivia. Potosi is a
mountainous region, extensively exploited for its mining operations. The
consequence of this is extreme pollution of the surrounding water-sources. It
is estimated that a single mountain in the region of Potosi discharges an
approximate sum of 161 tons of zinc, 157 tons of iron, 2 tons of arsenic, as
well as several other toxic pollutants in only a year.
The method, known as the passive
water treatment system, was developed over 15 years. The revolutionary method,
unlike others of its kind, is extremely low in terms of cost and requires
minimal labor. The system works by channeling the water into a chain of several
man-made ponds. Each pond introduces a natural chemical or biological process
which removes certain pollutants from the water. Once the water has passed the
each pond, or “cell”, it is then directed back into its natural waterway.
Robert Nairn, the associate
director of the University for Oklahoma’s Water Technologies branch said that
the water from the polluted water-sources went from looking like orange sludge
to clear water once it had passed through the filtration process. In addition,
he added that the system doesn’t require any fossil fuels and uses energy from
the sun, wind, and gravity. This cuts the cost significantly and only requires
maintenance every three months, reducing the cost even further.
Nairn goes on to say that the
region of Potosi receives minimal rainfall, and the water that is available is
used mainly to irrigate crops and for human consumption. This results in
contaminated crops and bio-magnification in the ecosystems as well as the human
population, posing urgent health risks.
Nairn makes an important point by stating that "massive
water pollution is an issue that affects us all. If left untreated, the results
are the same: unsafe living conditions and potential health risks. We learn
from research in both developed and undeveloped countries to counteract this
man-made threat with ecologically friendly solutions."
I believe that this is one of the most influential
breakthroughs in terms of water treatment. The process has very little
environmental impact, and uses purely natural means to filter water. In
addition, most methods of water treatment are extremely high in cost, yet this
method succeeds at cutting the costs dramatically. This discovery should be a stepping-stone
in developing more environmentally safe, cheap, and efficient technology to
tackle many of the environmental problems we are faced with today.
Really interesting breakthrough, perhaps this filter can be used in the Topcider river
ReplyDeleteVery interesting method of purifying water. I love the fact that they are using naturally biological processes to clean up the water from irrigation. This is completely possible because there are bacteria and other microbes who can process and fixate the nitrogen and phosphates that are used as fertilizers. Mining processes as well can be filtered out because bacteria can also break down some heavy metals. This is just amazing and hopefully other countries will use this as a normal set up around areas where mining and agriculture are heavily present.
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