“Scientists have found a new, promising, and cost-effective way to clean contaminated water,” Orak announced happily, “Water that is full of waste, dirt, heavy metals, chemicals, etc. is called contaminated water or unclean water.
Unclean water is unfit for drinking. Moreover, if water is contaminated with heavy metals then it is a big problem. Heavy metals are water pollutants. When consumed, they can stay in the human body and cause many diseases. Platinum, chromium, and lead are examples of heavy metals commonly found in water.”
“Wow, that’s wonderful news,” Verum said.
“What is the new method?” Scorch wanted to know.
Orak explained, “Humans make vegetable oil out of peanut and sunflower. During the process, along with the oil, a lot of other waste is also produced. These are known as waste by-products. Such by-products are called oilseed meals.
Scientists discovered that the proteins found in these by-products can easily attract heavy metals. Upon this discovery, scientists created a membrane (a thin layer of tissue) from the proteins of the by-products. The proteins immediately attracted the heavy metals. This attraction is called adsorption. What next?! It was a breakthrough in their research. The tests showed that the protein-rich leftovers can purify contaminated water!”
“Do we know how much does it purify?” said Verum.
“These membranes can filter up to 99.89% of heavy metals! The study showed that the purified water meets international drinking standards,” Orak added.
“This is indeed a super discovery. I know that the current technologies used to purify water require more power to operate. But how about this newly-discovered method? Doesn’t it require more power,” said Felix.
“Not at all,” Orak said, “Scientists announced that in this method only 35 pounds of waste protein (16 kg) is required to filter contaminated water the size of an Olympic pool! After the filtration process is complete, the membrane can be burnt. It leaves behind metals that can be recycled and purified water that is drinkable.
Do you know how expensive these heavy metals are? Platinum costs $33,000 for 2.2 pounds (1 kg).”
“Scientists have truly come up with a great technique to purify water without harming the environment,” Felix said.
“Since it doesn’t require more power, this method can be used to purify water in areas with less electricity and power!” Verum said.
“You are absolutely right, Verum,” said Orak.