In honor of both Water Quality Month (August) and World Water Week (hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute each last week of August), I’d like to gently encourage us all to “keep it clean, people”—our water, that is.
Perhaps our planet’s greatest natural resource, the water we often take for granted is both precious and, for billions, scarce—which is why we need to do everything we can to protect it.
So I was happy to read about two new initiatives designed to help clean water in a couple of different ways.
Some of you may recall the Ocean Cleanup Project’s ocean-cleaning drift system, that’s removing trash and debris from our oceans. Now, the same group has developed a solar-powered barge, called the Interceptor,™ designed to combat river plastic emissions by capturing trash before it ever has a chance to reach the ocean.
Check it out!
Industrial and chemical waste is also polluting our water. Fortunately, Singaporean startup EcoWorth Tech has developed the Carbon Fibre Aerogel (CFA), a new kind of filter designed to remove this type of pollution from wastewater. The CFA is a reusable super-sponge that removes organic materials from wastewater, turning it into water than can be reused or safely released into the environment. Able to absorb up to 190 times its own weight in contaminants, the CFA could be put to work in the oil and gas industry, food production and processing, as well as industrial and chemical processing. Best of all, the captured organic materials can be removed and reused too.
With exciting new technologies like these, it might be tempting to simply let the experts make sure that we all have safe water to drink and enjoy. But Movement members know better than that. We know that it really takes all of us doing our part to ensure healthy water supplies for future generations. So here are some easy ways we can help conserve and preserve our precious water:
Resources:
Good info and reminder to keep our environment a top priority.
Love Norwex Movement and all that is going on within.
We use rain barrels to reuse rainwater in our garden and our chicken coop!
Should post videos of rainwater collection!