Polluted Water Purification Using Diatoms
Researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, have developed a new method for polluted water purification using algae. Their recent study demonstrates that the fossil remains of diatoms (a type of algae) can efficiently remove contaminants from water after being chemically modified.
Europe’s water bodies are in poor condition: more than half of them are heavily polluted with chemicals. This is hardly surprising – every day, up to 70,000 different chemicals are used in Europe’s industries and agriculture. Researchers have identified more than 500 chemicals in Europe’s rivers, originating from industrial and agricultural sources, threatening aquatic habitats.