Posts Tagged ‘Water’
Reactive Glass: Pollutant ‘Sponge’ for Site Remediation
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on January 12th, 2010
Source: CleanTechnica via CleanEdge
Image: diego cupolo via flickr CC
From ““Swelling Glass” Cleans Polluted Water Like a Sponge“, by Tina Casey
This is the discovery that could put the College of Wooster on the map: glass that swells like a sponge. Put together like a nano-matrix, the new glass can unfold to hold up to eight times its weight. The glass binds with gasoline and other pollutants containing volatile organic compounds but it does not bind with water, so it acts like a “smart” sponge, capable of picking and choosing from contaminated groundwater.
The new material was developed by Dr. Paul Edmiston of the College of Wooster, who formed a new company, Absorbent Materials, to market the new glass under the trademark Obsorb. A number of pilot sites are being tested in the United States, and industrialized countries are not the only ones that stand to gain. Obsorb’s unique properties make it ideal for low tech, low-budget cleanups in developing areas as well.
Obsorb is a reactive glass. Unlike conventional glass, it can bond with the chemicals it encounters. However, it is also hydrophobic, meaning that it does not bond with water. At a recent pilot demonstration in Ohio, Obsorb was used in the form of a white powder to suck up a plume of TCE (a volatile organic compound). TCE is particularly difficult and expensive to clean up using conventional means, which is the reason why some contaminated sites are simply shut down, allowing the vapors to dissipate naturally. The process takes decades, so Obsorb could provide a low-cost means of recovering sites more quickly. The venture development group JumpStart Inc. saw the potential and has just committed a $250,000 investment to Absorbent Materials.
Once full, Obsorb floats to the surface, where it can be skimmed off with something as simple as a coffee filter. After that the pollutants can be retrieved and the glass can be reused hundreds of time. Nanoparticles of iron can also be added to convert TCE or PCE (another volatile organic compound) into harmless substances. As a low cost form of cleanup, swelling glass could provide site remediators with yet another in the growing list of non-conventional cleanup tools along with lactate, vitamin B-12, and even cattails.
From ““Swelling Glass” Cleans Polluted Water Like a Sponge“, by Tina Casey
Tags: enabling technologies, remediation, Water
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From Industrial Hub To Sustainable Neighbourhood
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on December 18th, 2009
Source: Daily Commercial News
From “Vancouver industrial hub transformed into sustainable neighbourhood” by Jean Sorensen
Southeast False Creek (SEFC), a City of Vancouver reclamation project, is being designed to set a new urban sustainability standard in community development. The 80-acre site housing 16,000 people will become a neighbourhood of parks, market and subsidised housing, marine areas, community garden, shops, schools, and a community centre, growing out of what was once the industrial hub of the city. Sawmills, manufacturers, metal shops and marine-related shops once rimmed False Creek. Subsurface investigation was made into soil and groundwater quality at SEFC to complete human health and risk assessment as part of a remedial action plan. In areas where contamination was severe, soils were removed and in areas of lesser contamination, the material was covered over and the land designated recreational use.
“I am told that this is the largest residential development in North America,” said Robin Petri, Vancouver’s Manager of Engineering for the SEFC & Olympic Village. One of the unique features of the development, Petri points out, is that the roads are sloped so that rainwater drains into natural bioswales on each side of the village, negating the need to treat runoff water, while providing habitat for birds, animals, and marine life. Buildings also capture and use water, with approximately 50 per cent having green roofs and 50 per cent directing the water into irrigation and functions such as toilet flushing. A neighborhood energy utility is the first in North America to gather heat directly from a raw sewage line, consolidate the heat and use it in a thermal system that loops pipe to various buildings and back to the utility building.
One of the challenges of the cleanup was that False Creek had been filled in along the shoreline over the years. Much of the earlier materials used for fill were poor quality and these had to be removed and replaced. To compensate for shoreline that was removed, an island was created in an inter-tidal zone allowing children to wade to it at low tide to examine marine life that has been returning to a once-derelict area. In February a project manager noticed white frothy bubbles around the island. It turned out to be herring roe – the first time it has been seen there in 50 years.
Read the full article by Jean Sorensen.
Tags: remediation, urban sustainability, Water
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TapIt water bottle refill network
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on August 25th, 2009
Source: Springwise
New York’s water-toting crowd has a convenient new way to be sustainable while staying hydrated, as a tap water refilling service officially launches in the city. TapIt is a community program that enables people to refill their water bottles at participating cafés, completely free of charge.
TapIt aims to help people stay healthy and hydrated without relying on single-use plastic bottles. Any restaurant or café with a soda dispenser or tap that gives clean drinking water can sign up as a partner. Thirsty consumers can find taps online or via TapIt’s iPhone app, and are provided with information on the type of water that’s available, telling discerning customers whether the water’s filtered or non-filtered, room temperature or chilled.
But the TapIt network is not just about going bottle-less; less bottles, less recycling, less water privatization and extraction, it’s about understanding why those things are a problem and finding new and sustainable 21st century solutions.
Think your city is ready to start a local water movement?
Tags: networks, new systems/services, waste, Water
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Water Labels on Food
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on August 19th, 2009
Source: Cleanfood, the Future Climate newsletter
Table from “Water labels on food – Issues and recommendations” Ruth Segal & Tom MacMillan (July 2009)
“A new label proposed in the UK will ask consumers to consider the efficiency and impact of water use on the food products they buy. But rather than detailing figures on the actual amount of water used in production, it will indicate how responsible the company has been in using water. Tom MacMillan, the executive director for UK think tank and advisory body, the Food Ethics Council, admits labels aren’t the answer to everything. “One of the reasons labels can be useful is that actually companies clean their act up before they even stick the label on,” he says. “So it’s not just about giving shoppers information. It’s also about making companies think very seriously about what their impacts are on the environment.”" ABC Rural News.
Tags: behaviour shift, education, Water
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Rivers and Cities: Smart design
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 17th, 2009
Source: Sustainable Design blog
Image: Sasha via picasa
The Dreisam river runs straight through a large portion of Freiburg, in Germany. It is diverted throughout the town for a variety of purposes. The river, which had been artificially constructed away from its original flow in the late 1800’s, is surrounded by greenery and excellent bicycle and pedestrian pathways. The city has an unusual system of gutters (called Bächle) that run throughout its centre. These Bächle, once used to provide water to fight fires and feed livestock, are constantly flowing with water diverted from the Dreisam. These Bächle were never used for sewage, as such usage could lead to harsh penalties, even in the Middle Ages. During the summer, the running water provides natural cooling of the air, and offers a pleasant, gurgling sound.
The river contributes to drainage for the city helping the water flow through parts of the city easily (no flooding due to diversion). People along side the river use it for irrigating their plants, crops, and gardens. There are many areas for recreation such as swimming, biking, walking, exercise for people and their pets, and a calm place to sit. It is also a prime area for artists to perform graffiti and “rock art” giving them creative spots away from buildings and downtown.
Tags: cities, Urban Design and Built Form, Water
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Salisbury Aquifer Recharge and Recovery Scheme
Posted in Models, RDAG by CBiggs on August 7th, 2009
Location: Salisbury, Adelaide, Australia
The scheme started in the 90’s with progressive thinkers in the City of Salisbury authority trying to find a way to store water that could be used in summer and cut water costs. This original effort has expanded to include stormwater collection, wetland treatment and aquifer injection and retrieval.
One of triggers for the project was the prospect that a major water user (a wool processing facility) was considering relocation due to the cost of bringing over 1bn L of water per year from the river Murray which would have put hundreds of jobs at risk. In a joint project with the council, stormwater is now diverted from drains flowing to the sea and treated in nearby wetlands supplying the wool processor with an alternative local source.
Tags: community, governance, Water
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Reduce bottle waste: Water fountains in Manly
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on July 27th, 2009
Source: InDesign Live
The Bottled Water Alliance, with Do Something! and filtered water supplier Culligan Water, aims to reduce the waste created by the bottled water industry by bringing fresh filtered water to the streets.
The program involves installing fountains and taps to provide water to the residents and visitors to Manly, Sydney. This in turn should encourage people to buy less bottled water – the plastic from which generally ends up in landfill or as litter after a single use.
Tags: behaviour shift, design, Water
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NZ Council: Pro-Greywater
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on July 15th, 2009
Source: Watersmart
The Kapiti Coast District Council has become the first New Zealand local government body to regulate for the use of greywater to solve a serious water shortage.
The Kapiti district is about an hour’s drive from the national capital, Wellington and has around 46,000 ratepayers. However this number is predicted to grow by more than 50 percent in the next 40 years, further straining the district’s limited water supply. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: governance, Resource, Water
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WaterLife: A Film About Fresh Water on Earth
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on July 7th, 2009
Source: Environmental Anthropology list
WATERLIFE follows the epic cascade of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. From the icy cliffs of Lake Superior to the ornate fountains of Chicago to the sewers of Windsor, this feature-length documentary tells the story of the last huge supply (20 per cent) of fresh water on Earth.
Tags: film, Resource, Water
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Research – “Attitudes to conservation and water consumption” report
Posted in Movements, Research, Visions by fedwards on August 8th, 2008
Please find below some information about the report, “Attitudes to conservation and water consumption” which was recently posted on Australian Policy Online . There is also a link to the full article below.
Attitudes to conservation and water consumption
Bill Randolph and Patrick Troy / City Futures Research Centre
Posted: 18-07-2008
Link: http://www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=221820
Sydney’s water supply is under great pressure as the demand continues to rise. Demand mitigation strategies have had some success, but domestic consumption remains high. This paper discusses the attitudes of households to their water consumption in a search for ways in which domestic demand for water may be reduced. Evidence on attitudes of households in different kinds of housing was obtained using a telephone interview survey supplemented by information derived from focus groups drawn from households in the same areas. The information was collected in a period when strong water use restrictions were in place and major arguments were being mounted in favour of water pricing as a way of moderating demand. The paper argues that the complexity of the forces shaping demand needs to be understood in the context of the socio-demographic composition of households in different kinds of dwellings, as well as the cultural, behavioural and institutional aspects of consumption, if public policy is to be successful in reducing consumption and/or providing alternative domestic supplies of potable water.
Tags: Urban Design and Built Form, waste, Water
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