1 Tahrcountry Musings: Desert cactus purifies contaminated water

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Desert cactus purifies contaminated water




To clean contaminated water for farmed fish, drinking and other uses, scientists are now turning to mucilage or inner 'guts' of cacti. Have a look at the video below


Dr Norma Alcantar, the lead researcher from University of Florida says “The mucilage also attracts sediments, bacteria and other contaminants. It captures these substances and forms a large mass or ‘floc’ that sort of looks like cotton candy. For sediments, the flocs are large and heavy, which precipitate rapidly after the interaction with mucilage.” The technology grew from century-old knowledge that mucilage from some common cacti can clean drinking water



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