ST. HELENA, CA — The City of St. Helena Water Department will conduct water distribution main flushing Wednesday, Nov. 16 through Nov. 22, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., the city’s Public Works officials said.

The purpose of the Water Main Flushing Program is to improve drinking water quality for residents and businesses, according to Clayton Church, Public Works operations manager.

The flushing process may cause discolored water and a reduction in pressure; the discoloration is temporary and is not harmful, Church said. However, if the condition persists, customers can contact St. Helena City Hall Public Works at 707-312-2230.

“Thanks for your patience as we work to improve the quality of drinking water provided to the residents and businesses of St. Helena,” Church said.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Dozens of Glenavy residents received worrying news on Tuesday after testing showed “highly elevated” levels of nitrate in the town’s water scheme.

Emergency drinking water supplies have been in place for the Lower Waihao and Waikakahi East water schemes in since nitrate levels exceeded the national drinking water standards in August.

Greenpeace senior campaigner Steve Abel said the organisation had processed 59 samples on Tuesday, with 61% testing over 8mg/l of nitrates.

The results pointed to the “highest levels of nitrates in a reticulated supply for a township” he had seen during the more than 1500 tests they had conducted around the country.

READ MORE:
* Oceania dairy company rejects possible link to high nitrates in Waimate District water supply
* ‘You never know what’s in your water’: Two thirds of rural bore samples above cancer risk level for nitrates
* Nitrates in drinking water could be killing 40 Kiwis each year, study finds
* Environmental groups team up to call for stricter water nitrate limit

Abel said the highest nitrate levels they generally see are from private bores, rather than from a registered scheme supplying hundreds of users.

People had been “shocked and angered” by the results of the testing, he said.

“It’s not acceptable. Everyone agrees with the principle that everyone should have access to safe drinking water, and there’s no contention about what is causing the problem in terms of the system-wide increase in nitrogen inputs from dairying, including irrigation.”

The Maximum Acceptable Value (MAV) of nitrates under the New Zealand Drinking Water Standards is 11.3 milligrams per litre of nitrate-nitrogen (or 50mg/l of nitrate), but emerging research points to serious health impacts connected to much lower levels.

AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff

Carolyn Klein was worried to learn of high levels of nitrate in the drinking water samples she brought for testing.

A 33-year Danish-led study of 2.7 million people found an increased cancer risk above one milligram of nitrate nitrogen, and one American study of 1.4 million births showed a 47% increase in the risk of preterm birth above five milligrams. The New Zealand College of Midwives recommends pregnant people limit risk by avoiding water over 5mg/l.

Abel said the levels seen in samples from both the Glenavy town supply and nearby bore testing were “significantly elevated.”

Around 80% of New Zealand’s tap water has less than 1mg/l of nitrate, but those in rural areas on town groundwater and private bore water are bearing the burden of elevated levels which could be potentially harmful, he said.

In comparison, samples from nearby Waimate tested by environmental scientist Dr Jennifer Pannell on Tuesday were consistently under 0.5 mg/l.

Abel called the results appalling.

AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff

Dr Jennifer Pannell, science advisor to Greenpeace, using a spectrometer to test water samples at the Glenavy Hall on Tuesday.

“Land use change in the last 20 years in the Waimate district has had a marked impact on local people’s basic right of access to safe drinking water.”

Glenavy resident Carolyn Klein brought two water samples to Tuesday’s water testing, one from her home and one from an Air Bnb property she rents out.

She said she was “very worried” about the situation.

“The results I’ve got today are very high. How long have these results been as high as this that I’ve been drinking the water from the tap?”

Klein said she wanted to know who was accountable for testing the water and “letting people out in the public, and in the community, know when things are not right.”

She had been forced to “cart 40 litre containers” to her house and provide fresh drinking water for the Air Bnb since August, she said.

AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff

Greenpeace senior campaigner Steve Abel speaking with Helen Bachari while she waits for the results of water testing at the Glenavy Hall on Tuesday.

“I also have to cart water to my house if I’m washing my vegetables, and I’ve got preserving coming, so it’s going to be a lot more work getting water to my sink.”

Klein was disappointed there had not been more communication from the council.

“If something’s not right, come door knocking and leave a note. Let the public and the community know what’s happening out there because we only know from the information that you’re collecting and what you’ve got to give out to us.”

She hoped something could be done to clean up the water supply for herself and future generations, she said.

AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff

One of the 59 water samples brought to the Glenavy Hall for testing by Greenpeace science advisor Dr Jennifer Pannell.

“I think it’s important that we start now … and help each other to do the right thing, so my grandchildren can enjoy fresh drinking water and even perhaps go to the river and have a swim and play in the water like I did when I was a child.”

In a statement on Tuesday, ECan southern zone leader Peter Burt said it is “very unlikely” the Oceania dairy factory had contributed to nitrate concentrations at the supply intake.

“The dairy factory is located down gradient from the Lower Waihao rural drinking water supply well. It’s also approximately 8km away from it.”

However, Burt disputed Oceania’s claim that no elevated levels of nitrate had been discovered in their bore water.

AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff

The district council has provided tanks of water for scheme users since nitrate levels first breached the maximum allowed in August 2022.

“In the past year, the drinking water standards have been exceeded for nitrate within one monitoring bore on Oceania’s property and one neighbouring bore.”

Burt said neither bore is used for drinking water, and the company had taken action “in line with its consent conditions.”

In a written statement released on Saturday, Oceania Dairy Limited general manager Logan Hanifin said the company tested its bore water monthly for nitrate levels.

“No elevated levels of nitrate have been detected in these bores which are in very close proximity to land on which our treated wastewater is dispersed.”

AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff

A warning to users of the Glenavy Hall not to drink the water, which has had shown levels of nitrates above national drinking water standards since earlier in the year.

Burt said ECan received regular, detailed compliance reports from Oceania.

“In the case of exceedances within private bores, it is the company itself that must inform the well owner,” he said.

The elevated calcium levels evident in the analysis done by Otago University researchers could be explained by other factors, Burt said.

“This area is intensively farmed and, in addition to nitrogen fertiliser, some farmers do apply other substances including lime.”

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Dangerous chemicals, known as PFAS, have been detected in one of Sioux City’s drinking water sources, with contamination levels that now warrant a health advisory.

In January, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources detected the presence of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at the Southbridge Water Treatment plant. At the time, those levels did not meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold for a health advisory.

But, the EPA drastically lowered those thresholds this summer. They dropped from 70 parts per trillion to 0.004 parts per trillion for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and 0.002 parts per trillion for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA). More than a dozen Iowa communities’ water sources surpass this level.

Sioux City’s levels are at 4.4 parts per trillion for PFOS and 5.7 for PFOA. The contamination likely came from a nearby Iowa Air National Guard Base, where levels in groundwater were detected as high as 8,610 parts per trillion nearly three years ago. The chemicals, existent in firefighting foams, are believed to have migrated off-site and into the drinking water.

Sioux City Utilities Director Brad Puetz said that residents do not need to be concerned at this time, as the concentration levels remain the same. He said the department is awaiting finalized standards from the EPA before it institutes any changes.

“It’s very difficult for us to say at what level the water would become toxic for the citizens to drink,” Puetz said. “I don’t believe we’re there. We’ll know more once the final rule is published.”

“We take water and sewer problems around here seriously.”

Bob Scott, Sioux City mayor

The EPA is expected to give a final ruling of PFAS level standards next summer. Recent studies have shown that the chemicals can have a wide variety of adverse health impacts. Significant exposure can lead to decreased fertility, increased risk of some cancers and developmental effects for children, according to the EPA.

If the city is still under an advisory, officials said they will consider relocating the well to a different water source, at an estimated cost of $4.5 million. At a city council meeting on Monday, Puetz estimated that this would be a cheaper option than investing in technology to try to remove the chemicals from the source.

Mayor Bob Scott said the council would consider the issue more after the EPA guidance is given.

“We take water and sewer problems around here seriously, whether people want to believe it or not,” Scott said. “So, we want to do what we need to do. But, we don’t want to go out and spend $15 million on rules that may not be finalized either.”

The Southbridge plant is one of two sources of drinking water for the city, providing less than a fourth of the city’s drinking water.

Health advisories are voluntary and there are no legally enforced limits for PFAS in Iowa or federally.

The dots show where the Iowa DNR has done testing on PFAS levels throughout the state. The green dots indicate no detection, the orange indicate levels below the health advisory, and the red indicates communities where levels exceed the health advisory.

Sioux City is just one of many communities across Iowa that is grappling with how to address the so-called “forever chemicals.” All water sources with detected PFAS in Iowa exceed the EPA’s new health advisory standards, including Ames, Davenport and Muscatine.

Central City has the highest levels in the state with contamination levels of 61 parts per trillion for PFAS chemicals.

In 2019, federal, state and local officials launched a working group to address PFAS contaminants in drinking water in Iowa. Since then, the Iowa DNR has launched more widespread testing of cities’ water sources for the chemicals.

Local Sioux City representatives are not a part of the collaboration. But, Puetz said he has been in conversation with other communities who face similar contaminant levels.

“As we learn more, we may team up with other communities to determine what the best move forward is,” he said.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Tap water in more than 500 remote Indigenous communities isn’t regularly tested and often isn’t safe to drink, according to a water industry report released last week. In some communities, drinking water contained unacceptable levels of uranium, arsenic, fluoride and nitrate.

Authors

• 
  Bradley J. Moggridge
  

  Associate Professor in Indigenous Water Science, University of Canberra

• 
  Cara D. Beal
  

  Associate Professor/ Principal Research Fellow, Griffith University

• 
  Nina Lansbury
  

  Nina Lansbury is a Friend of The Conversation.

  Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland

While these findings are dire, they aren’t news to us. There have been myriad reports over the years on the poor status of safe drinking water in Australia’s remote communities all pointing to inequity of essential services with implications for health. But little has been done to rectify this.

Safe drinking water is a basic human right, no matter where people live. First Nations communities have campaigned for decades for clean water on their Country. As Alyawarre Elders, Jackie Mahoney and Pam Corbett, from Alpurrurulam community in the Northern Territory explained during the report’s launch:

That’s why we’re fighting for this water. It’s not only for us, it’s for them too […] For our old people who fought before us and our kids’ future.

A bureaucratic inquiry cycle

The new report, by Water Services Association of Australia, is the latest to detail this ongoing health crisis. Water can be both unsafe to drink (unpotable) and unacceptable to drink due to taste, colour and feel (unpalatable).

Its findings are consistent with a report by the Western Australian Auditor General last year. It found 37 communities had an unfit drinking water supply due to contamination by microbes (bacteria and viruses), nitrates or uranium – and there had been no improvement since the issue was reported in 2015.

Similarly, a research paper published earlier this year found drinking water supplied to 25,000 people in 99 small communities in 2018-19 didn’t pass Australian guidelines.

Numerous other reports have delivered similar findings. For example, a report in 1994 by the Australian Human Rights Commission examined ten communities and the condition of water and sanitation services, highlighting specific areas of concern.

In 2018, a review of Australia’s progress on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals confirmed that many remote communities don’t have the same level of access to water and sanitation services as urban centres, with flow-on effects to human health.

And in 2020, a Productivity Commission report proposed new objectives to deliver safe and reliable drinking water in remote communities, noting the additional stressor of climate change.

These earlier reports show the drinking water crisis was identified decades ago. Last week’s report reveals not much has changed.

Not every tap delivers safe water

The reasons for undrinkable water in remote communities are multiple and interlinked. We can group them into four broad areas.

The first is physical. This is when the original water source (from the surface or groundwater) may be contaminated with excess levels of chemicals, such as agricultural or industrial chemicals.

The water may also have biological contaminants due to hot weather or faeces from birds and other animals, increasing microbial growth.

And freshwater may become contaminated with salt as the sea level rises and affects natural freshwater wells. This is a major issue for some Torres Strait islands.

The second issue is technical. Local water operators are located remotely, and don’t always get appropriate resources, training and support.

Third, there are financial issues. It’s very expensive to deliver essential services, including water, to remote community councils within large states. For example, in Queensland’s remote Indigenous councils, these services are typically funded sporadically via short-term grants.

The final issue is social and governance. Water needs and practices on a cultural level are often poorly understood by service providers.

For example, during the recent drought, severe water restrictions left remote communities without treated and accessible water for hours on end, every day. This not only limited water available for drinking, but also for cultural events such as sorry camps (when the community mourns a loss).

A system that’s fit for purpose, place and people

A feature of successful sustainable water in remote communities is to tailor initiatives for each location. Such initiatives would be shaped by available local staff, water sources, cultural and governance structures and types of pollutants.

All external partners should aim to build long-term working relationships with the communities to avoid the “new face syndrome”. This is a common experience where different representatives visit communities without consistency, inhibiting long-term and trusted working relationships.

Sufficient funding will also be crucial for ongoing, sustainable delivery, with the ambition that water quality is the same as urban supplies.

And additional stressors, especially water insecurity due to climate change, need to be incorporated into water supply and related energy and sanitation planning.

Importantly, all remote essential service delivery and management actions, including water, need to be undertaken collaboratively. They should be led and authored by First Nations researchers, and draw from community strengths and knowledge wherever possible.

This shifts water service efforts being for communities, to being with communities. Indeed, cultural sensitivity and guidance is essential to ensure mutual respect and learning forms the basis of all supply delivery.

In keeping with this cultural awareness is an action-based commitment by water suppliers to develop and thoroughly implement “Reconciliation Action Plans“. These are plans in organisations aimed at embedding meaningful actions to advance relationships, respect and opportunities with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

These plans should include Indigenous-led, co-designed solutions throughout the process. They should be achievable and place-based, however challenging that may be for water utilities and organisations.

Walking the talk

The Water Services Association of Australia’s report was launched by Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney in Parliament this month. This was a powerful call to action on safe drinking water for all Australians to protect health, uphold human rights and implement sustainable development.

It is the responsibility of water service providers and their industry advocates to step up beyond their Reconciliation Action Plan obligations and “walk the talk” to collaborate with communities.

Let’s hope the next report on remote drinking water provision will describe successful and sustainable outcomes.

This article was co-authored with Charles Agnew, a water scientist.

Bradley J. Moggridge is affiliated with the University of Canberra, is a Governor with WWF Australia and a Member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists

Cara Beal receives funding from the Australian Research Council for research in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities. She is a member of the Australian Water Association.

Nina Lansbury is an IPCC Lead Author and receives funding from the NHMRC for environmental health research in remote communities.

/Courtesy of The Conversation. This material from the originating organization/author(s) may be of a point-in-time nature, edited for clarity, style and length. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s).

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Wednesday evening, the Twentynine Palms Water District will host their monthly meeting of their Board of Directors. The agenda includes a discussion and filing of the Local Agency Formation Commission’s (LAFCO) Service Review for the community. The report was on the agenda for the board’s October meeting but was tabled for further review.

Next, the board will consider a resolution that will allow for a 180-day waiting period in accordance with California state laws relating to employee retirement.
The board will also discuss results from the Wastewater Ad Hoc Committee meeting that was recently held. The remainder of the board meeting will consist of management reports on maintenance, water quality, and finance.

The meeting begins at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16, at 72401 Hatch Road in Twentynine Palms.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

• Two little children were seen riding in a Keke Napep that was loaded with bags of sachet water
• In the TikTok video posted by Anuoluwapo, the boys got stuck on a bad road, and one of them, who was the rider, came down to push the Keke
• Mixed emotions have followed the video after it was posted, as it has gathered close to 500 likes on the platform

A TikTok video has shown two little boys riding a Keke Napep loaded with sachet water popularly known as ‘pure water.’

While one of the boys took charge of the wheels, the other sat on the passenger’s seat at the front of the Keke.

The boys were in the Keke Napep which was loaded with pure water. Photo credit: TikTok/@iamanuoluwapo016.
Source: UGC

In the video posted by a user known as Anuoluwapo, the kids ran into a bad portion of the road and were struggling to come out.

Read also

Handsome young man With pot-belly dances in public, rolls his stomach accurately in stunning video

One of the boys who was the one riding came down from the tricycle and pushed it backwards.

PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through [email protected]!

After his efforts, the Keke came out and they rode away with no further delays.

A young man watched the kids in amazement as they struggled with the bike. It is not known if the boys do Keke riding as a business.

Watch the video below:

Boy who is a hawker wows many with his mathematics skills

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that a boy, who is a hawker, showed off his mathematics skills.

In a viral video, the boy was seen standing before some people who gathered around to ask him arithmetic questions.

He put down his wares and dished out answers to their questions as if he was using a calculator.

However, the boy was not seen with a calculator as he used his brain to come up with the answers in quick succession.

Read also

“He is a genius”: Young Nigerian boy who is a hawker displays incredible mathematics skills, video goes viral

What amazed those who were listening to him was how fast he came up with the answers as if he had them prepared already.

Some Instagram users who commented on the video were heartbroken as they said they were not happy that such a bright child was hawking in the streets.

It was, however, not known if the boy is in school or if hawking is what he does on a permanent basis.

Source: Legit.ng

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

QUETTA    –   About 30 percent of construction work of the water desalination plant to supply 1.2 million gallons of clean drinking water per day to the residents of Gwadar city has been completed. This was stated on Monday by Project Director of the under-construction Water Desali­nation Plant Dawood Baloch. 

He said it was very gratifying that the work on the project was going on at a fast pace without any hindrance. He further said the phase of compre­hensive soil testing in the premises of Gwadar Port Free Zone Area con­tinued uninterruptedly under the guidelines of Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) and Government.

He revealed that along with the construction of a 1.2 million gallon per day water desalination plant, Gwadar Port Authority has also made progress in laying a water supply line of about 1 km from the plant site to the main water supply network of Gwadar city, saying that through this, clean drinking water would be provided in taps inside the homes of the residents of Gwadar

For this purpose, Gwadar Port Au­thority has already started the for­mal bidding process to hire eligible firms, he said and added that after finalizing the tendering procedure on November 16, the selected enter­prise would be awarded the contract as per the rules and regulations.

An official of Gwadar Port Au­thority said that the 1.2 million gal­lons per day dewater desalination plant spread over an area of about one acre, the plant was to be com­pleted in 12 months but the pace of work was likely to be completed before April 2023. He said that the water desalination plant was being completed with the cooperation of Gwadar Port Authority and China Harbor Engineering Company. 

This plant project will be sufficient to meet the water demand of Gwadar city and Gwadar port, he noted. He said that initially the project of 0.5 mil­lion gallons per day water desalination plant was signed by the governments of Pakistan and China with feasibility and survey conducted and on July 5, 2021 the government approved 1.2 million gallons per day for Gwadar from water desalination plant.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

THERE’S an old kitchen myth that states that if you add some salt to water you will make it boil faster.

Is this true?

Verdict:

IT’S TRUE – but it’s impractical

Be it pasta that’s on your menu, noodles, dumplings or whatever that requires a big pot of boiling water, adding salt to the water does not noticeably decrease the time for it to boil if you are planning on actually eating anything that you are trying to boil.

However, if you are not cooking and just want a big pot of boiling salt water, then yes, adding salt does decrease the time it takes to make it boil.

When you add salt to pure water it does two things; 1) It decreases the specific heat capacity of the water, meaning you need less heat to increase the water’s temperature by 1°C; and 2) It increases the boiling point of the water, meaning that by adding one teaspoon of salt to a litre of water, you would have to heat it up to 102°C instead of 100°C.

These two properties conflict and will work against each other unless the salt concentration is high enough to counteract the higher boiling point of salt water.

The reason this happens has to do with two phenomenons, the first one being boiling point elevation.

Adding salt to the water decreases its vapour pressure, water (and any other liquid) will only start to boil when its vapour pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure, this means that it would now take more heat to make the water boil.

This phenomenon is also the reason why water boils at a lower temperature on the tops of mountains (where the atmospheric pressure is lower) compared to at sea level.

As for why salt lowers the heat capacity of water, salt ions in the water bonds with some of its molecules making it hard for it to move, or in this case, vibrate.

This means that more of the energy coming from the stove goes into the non-ion bonded water molecules making it get hotter faster.

Saying that, if you add enough salt into the water it will make it boil much faster.

However, this would be at concentrations that would make anything cooked in the water unpalatable.

Sea water only contains 3.5% salt concentration and boiling water with that concentration would only shave off seconds if compared to boiling pure water.

In order to see a significant difference in boiling time greater than a few seconds there would need to be an extremely high concentration of salt present in the water, likely over 20% which would not only make anything cooked in it inedible, it would be downright dangerous to your health.

So bottomline is, add salt to your water to give whatever you’re boiling some flavour, but don’t expect it to make your water boil faster.

References:

1. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/60046/does-adding-salt-water-make-it-boil-sooner

2. https://www.livescience.com/56214-does-salt-make-water-boil-faster.html

3. https://thermtest.com/does-adding-salt-to-water-help-it-boil-faster

4. https://astrocamp.org/blog/salt-water/

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

DOLLY A. BUTZ

SIOUX CITY — Sioux City’s drinking water has exceeded health advisory levels, in recent months, for man-made compounds that have been used in products that are resistant to heat and repel oil and water, according to documents from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 

Sioux City Utilities Director Brad Puetz was slated to give a presentation during Monday’s City Council meeting about the updated health advisory levels for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their effect on the city’s drinking water. 

“The EPA has recently updated the health advisory levels for PFAS compounds as they relate to drinking water. PFAS compounds have been detected in the source water and finished water at Sioux City’s Southbridge water plant,” council meeting information states. 

Clean drinking water is no luxury; it’s crucial to our health. But the infrastructure that provides us with this resource is out of sight, out of mind. 

In a DNR notice dated Oct. 10, sample results from Sioux City Water Supply detected perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in a concentration of 5.4 parts per trillion and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in a concentration of 4 per trillion. The new EPA health advisory levels are 0.004 parts per trillion for PFOA and 0.02 parts per trillion for PFOS.

People are also reading…

Before June 15, the interim health advisory levels consisted of the combined results of PFOS and PFOA set as 70 parts per trillion. 

Anne Westra, a communications and public engagement specialist for the city, told The Journal Thursday that there is “no cause for alarm” and that residents can keep drinking the water. 

According to information posted to the city’s website, the city began participating in an Iowa DNR program in August to proactively determine the prevalence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often called “forever chemicals,” in its drinking water. A water sample collected that month indicated 4.4 parts per trillion of one PFOS compound.

PFOA and PFOS-related chemicals have been used to make carpets, clothing, fabrics for furniture, paper packaging for food and other materials that are resistant to water, grease or stains. They are also used for firefighting at airfields and in a number of industrial processes, according to the EPA. 

The information on the city’s website states that the source of Sioux City’s contamination is the use of fire-fighting foams at the 185th Air Refueling Wing.

According to the EPA, the new health advisory levels were calculated to offer a margin of protection against adverse health effects and also take into account other potential sources of exposure to PFAS beyond drinking water. 

Studies have found associations between PFOA and/or PFOS exposure and effects on the immune system, cardiovascular system, human development and cancer. 

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!

Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Princeton Engineering researchers have turned egg whites into a new material that can cheaply remove salt and microplastics from seawater.

The scientists used egg whites to create an aerogel, a lightweight and porous material that can be used in many types of applications, including water filtration, energy storage, and sound and thermal insulation.

The idea came to Craig Arnold, vice dean of innovation at Princeton, who was working on developing new materials for engineering applications, during a faculty meeting.

“I was sitting there, staring at the bread in my sandwich,” he said. “And I thought to myself, this is exactly the kind of structure that we need.”

Arnold asked his lab group to make different bread recipes mixed with carbon to see if they could recreate the aerogel structure he was looking for. None of them worked quite right initially, so the team kept eliminating ingredients until only egg whites remained.

“We started with a more complex system,” Arnold said, “and we just kept reducing, reducing, reducing, until we got down to the core of what it was. It was the proteins in the egg whites that were leading to the structures that we needed.”

Egg whites are a complex system of almost pure protein that, when freeze-dried and heated to 900°C in an environment without oxygen, create a structure of interconnected strands of carbon fibres and sheets of graphene.

In a paper published in Materials Today, Arnold and his coauthors showed that the resulting material can remove salt and microplastics from seawater with 98 per cent and 99 per cent efficiency, respectively.

“The egg whites even worked if they were fried on the stove first, or whipped,” said Sehmus Ozden, first author on the paper. 

“Eggs are cool because we can all connect to them and they are easy to get, but you want to be careful about competing against the food cycle,” said Arnold.

Because other proteins also worked, the material can potentially be produced in large quantities relatively cheaply and without impacting the food supply. One next step for the researchers, Ozden noted, is refining the fabrication process so it can be used in water purification on a larger scale.

If this challenge can be solved, the material could have significant benefits because it is inexpensive to produce, energy-efficient to use and highly effective.

“Activated carbon is one of the cheapest materials used for water purification. We compared our results with activated carbon and it’s much better,” said Ozden. 

However, while Arnold sees water purity as a “major grand challenge,” he is also exploring other uses related to energy storage and insulation.

In July 2022, a University of Portsmouth study revealed that the UK’s wastewater infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to “pollution events” due to climate change. That same month, the UK’s Environment Agency’s annual assessment found an increase in polluting activities from most of England’s water and sewage companies, with performance on pollution falling to its lowest level since 2013. 

In light of the “appalling” situation, the regulator called for the organisations’ executives to face prison time if they oversee serious and repeated pollution incidents. 

Earlier this month, Rice University researchers reprogrammed cells in Escherichia coli – a type of bacteria found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals – to release an electrical current that can sense pollutants quicker than traditional methods.

Sign up to the E&T News e-mail to get great stories like this delivered to your inbox every day.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here