5 Wonderful Ways to Wash Water

We depend on water so heavily in many aspects of our daily lives – washing, treating, drinking – not to mention the abundant forms of animal life it sustains. However, now more than ever, our rivers, lakes and reservoirs are at risk of contamination from all sorts of unwanted chemicals and minerals, due to flooding, poor waste disposal and sewage discharge.

Indeed, even one of the most traditionally polluted rivers worldwide, the Yangtze, is at a new low in terms of its ability to sustain marine life, as is evidenced in the article, What is Driving Wild Chinese Sturgeon to Extinction? As such, it has become more important than ever to do our utmost to ensure water is sanitised as best as possible.

Such treatments are often impractical and expensive. However, scientists are continually looking for ways to improve our water-sanitation methods. Here are 5 of the more recent and unusual techniques that are being investigated:

1) Aeration

The most traditional method of water sanitation, aeration often involves using fountains or paddies to enable oxygen exchange with the outside air. However, these methods can be both expensive and have minimal impact on deeper or larger bodies of water, meaning that new technologies are called for. This article, The Best Way to Clean-Up Flooded Lakes and Reservoirs?, looks at a new “Aquaerator” which brings water near the bed to the surface in small jet-powered eddies, as well as examining the potential benefits of such a practice and some of the underlying causes of water contamination in the first place.

2) Filtration

Simply filtering out the undesirable elements of the water is also another popular option for water treatment. However, this has often incurred high costs (both financially and environmentally) in its high maintenance requirements, chemical element and unimpressive water recovery rates. Recently, a new filter has sought to alleviate all of these concerns within a single strategy – more can be learned from the article: Breakthrough Water Filtration Technology wins 2014 R&D 100 Award.

3) Reverse Osmosis

One technology becoming more popular the world over is reverse osmosis, which can achieve high levels of quality in treated water (no higher than 0,1μs/cm) without incurring extortionate costs. The process works by pressurising the contaminated water and pushing it through a semi-porous membrane, thus separating the pure water from the contaminated. For more information on how reverse osmosis has been used to desalinate and demineralise water, read: First Reverse Osmosis Element Leasing Program.

4) Algae Monitoring

Algae is one of the biggest problems in maintaining clean, potable water in our lakes and reservoirs. By combining telemetering, continuous quality control of water and ultrasound technology, a new method has managed to monitor and fight levels of algae 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It works by testing algae levels every 10 minutes, relaying this data to a computer, and then taking appropriate ultrasound action, which causes the algae to sink to the bottom of the body of water and die. Specifics of the technique and the award it won can be found at the very interesting article, Algae Control Solution Earns Water Innovation Award.

5) Ultraviolet Radiation

In a similar manner to ultrasound, UV radiation can also be used to sanitise water. Whilst chlorine can often be effectively used to destroy contaminants, there are a group of pathogens, known as protozoans, which are resistant to chlorine. However, they are highly susceptible to treatment by ultraviolet radiation of the affected water. This article, UV Disinfection Employed at the Moorabool Water Treatment Plant, talks about one of the first deployments of this technology in Australia.