Smart water – using technology to help effectively manage and protect the water supply is beginning to take off, according to an article in Smart Grid News. Cities are beginning to invest to protect their water supplies and minimize waste. Here’s a good overview on Smart Water projects worldwide.
Category Archives: Clean water technologies
Trees that suck up toxic waste through their roots
York University researchers have discovered bacteria in the roots of poplar trees that produce an enzyme that cleans up RDX, a chemical compound used by the military and industry. From this foundation, they are genetically engineering the enzyme to improve the tree’s ability to suck up additional toxic waste.
Smart Pipes that detect leaks could save billions of gallons of water
A research group led by the Illinois State Water Survey, in collaboration with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University, has been developing a “Smart Pipe” technology that could help reduce the huge waste of clean drinking water – estimated at six billion gallons per year due to faulty and leaky pipes. They are working on pipes with arrays of sensors to monitor water flow and quality using nanotechnology. These pipes will be able to detect water pressure, flow velocity and temperature and will be equipped with a wireless processor and antenna to transmit the data to monitoring stations.