Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Researchers at the University of B.C. have discovered a way to filter microplastics out of water using biodegradable forest byproducts such as bark and wood dust. Scientists at UBC’s BioProducts Institute found that if they added tannins—natural plant compounds found in unripe fruit and a popular additive in wine—to a layer of wood dust, they could filter out nearly all microplastic particles from water.
The treatment was designed by researchers at the University of British Columbia, and it utilizes a silica-based material that can absorb up to 99 percent of the forever chemicals found in water. The PFAS are then removed from the material, which can be used again to remove even more toxins. The potential here is exceptional, allowing us to remove these dangerous chemicals from water completely.
Some residents in a Montreal borough are trying to determine why yellow water is flowing out of their taps -- but to no avail, they say. The taps of at least three triplexes on Saint-Henri's St-Antoine St. have been affected for two weeks. Resident Andre Duchesne said he and his neighbours reached out to the city for help but have not received any guidance. "They say they're going to look into it, and we didn't get an answer," he told CTV News.
Scientists in Saskatchewan are using ag waste to make clean water. Khaled Benis, a Vanier Scholar and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Saskatchewan’s college of engineering, and his colleagues, have identified how to transform wheat and canola straw into a filter capable of absorbing arsenic from water. Canada produces about 47 million tonnes of ag residue per year. “We make the (crop residue) similar to activated carbon or ion exchange resin that can be used as alternatives to expensive materials. Crop residue is available everywhere and is a sustainable material.” Benis told Farms.com. “We collect the residues and perform physical or chemical treatments to activate the potential to absorb the arsenic.”
On the ISS, every drop of moisture, from humidity to urine, has to be filtered and reused. But the current system is very heavy, has to be replaced every 90 days, and fails to filter out certain contaminants, according to NASA. Danish company Aquaporin A/S has developed a new system that uses proteins called aquaporins. "It is essentially the mechanism that allows water to cross the cell membrane of living cells," says Peter Holme Jensen, CEO of Aquaporin A/S. In nature, these proteins allow plant roots to absorb water from soil, and let the two human kidneys together filter about 45 gallons of fluid per day. They are also very selective, preventing contaminants from passing through.
