The pollution of the planet has, no doubt, a detrimental effect on flora and fauna. And even if there are different filters and purification systems a large part of the waste somehow gets into the environment. But what if to do so, to “catch” the waste immediately before it hits the atmosphere, or even to clean the already contaminated areas? It can help you make artificial sand.
A group of researchers from UC Berkeley proposes to use for this purpose the oxide of manganese, which will help to clear the water from herbicides, pesticides and even bisphenol A (a component that is added to a huge number of products, for example, plastic). As reported in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, scientists under the leadership of Joseph Carbonata to get started just mixed the sand with the usual manganese, but immediately encountered a problem: the filter really absorbs the harmful substances, but very quickly “clog”.
To solve the problem, it was decided to use chlorine. It allows several times to increase the service life of sand. Moreover, the authors recognized that the composition shows the same results, and in connection with “artificial sand” — a mixture of components, the consistency resembles ordinary sand. The place where will be located a “sand filter” is not necessarily to water with chlorine. You can leave, for example, a couple of biodegradable capsules with the substance and to carry out preventive replacement every few months. It is also worth noting that the spent filters are very easy to utilization.
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Synthetic sand will help with wastewater treatment
Vladimir Kuznetsov