A metal recycling company in Wisconsin is having trouble with rainwater — or rather, rainwater is having trouble with them. But students at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh may have engineered a solution.
Each time it rains into metal collection containers for Sadoff Iron and Metal, that rainwater becomes contaminated by the various fluids and oils on the metals, Milwaukee's Spectrum News 1 reported.
The company has to pay by the gallon to haul away the contaminated water, which another company treats before re-releasing it back into the environment.
But now, a program called the Freshwater Collective — which connects local academic research with the needs of local businesses — may have led Sadoff to the answer.
Environmental engineering students at UW-Oshkosh have been working for three years on a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution to the contaminated rainwater issue. With the development of a particular polymer clay mixture, they may have found it.
Tyler Peskie, a recent graduate who developed the clay mixture, explained to Spectrum News 1 that this mixture effectively absorbs oils, fluids, and chemicals from rainwater.
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Professor Marcel Dijkstra emphasized the clay's efficacy, explaining that with it, Sadoff could one day skip the pay-per-gallon treatment entirely.
"Some of the toxic chemicals are removed by 95% to 98%, so that means that the water now is nontoxic, and can be discharged at a wastewater treatment plant," Dijkstra said.
Working to treat contaminated water is critical, not just for the business challenges facing Sadoff and other industries, but for public health in general.
Nearly one in four people lack access to consistently clean water, according to the UN. Whether it's nervous system damage due to long-term chemical exposure or life-threatening bacterial disease, contaminated water is a major threat to human and animal health. Considering that every living creature consumes water, the necessity of clean water cannot be overstated.
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Majorly 😥 That's why people around the world employ several approaches to treating contaminated water. Whether it's working to prevent sewage and plastic from being dumped into water sources or treating water more effectively and sustainably on the processing end, the variety of solutions is nearly as broad as the variety of causes of pollution itself.
For Peskie and the team at UW-Oshkosh, getting to lend their own research to the ever-growing body of work on clean water was a major win both professionally and personally.
"The harder the problem, the harder the project, the more inspiration I get to work on it," said Peskie. "The thought of being able to make the environment better for somebody else tomorrow is the only thing I want to leave on this Earth."
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