All over the world, supplies of fresh water are drying up, yet demand increases every year.
Engineering professor Madhumita Ray hopes her research will offer a solution surrounding the treatment of contaminated water.
Arid regions have long been feeling the crunch, and if something isn’t done soon, the fresh water issue could escalate into crisis that all of us will feel.
“They say the next wars will be fought over water, not oil, because water is really getting scarce,” says Madhumita Ray, associate professor of chemical engineering at The University of Western Ontario.
Ray is conducting research into a chemical treatment process she thinks will help ease the fresh water issue — advanced oxidation.
In precise dosages, advanced oxidation can destroy toxic contaminants and turn them into something harmless.
Made available to the public on a wide, inexpensive scale, the technology could prove useful in compact household filtration devices, says Ray. Solar-powered advanced oxidation devices could be extremely helpful in countries where people do not have access to drinkable water.
Ray grew up in India, one of many countries where fresh water has long been an issue. But not only developing nations have problems with water treatment; advanced oxidation technology could be extremely useful right here at home.
Canada possesses more renewable fresh water than almost any other country in the world, even countries populated by 30 or 40 times more people. Though our water supply is abundant, much of it could be contaminated with all kinds of chemicals, says Ray. Arsenic, selenium, petroleum products – all the chemicals you can think of.
Increasingly, our water infrastructure cannot keep up with the demand of an growing Canadian population. Newer, more effective technology is needed to improve the treatment of water on a larger scale.
“The water industry has to come up with continuous growth for the supply of domestic, potable water to so many people,” says Ray. Modernizing our water treatment plants would help not just for removing harmful chemicals from ground water, but for a practice that is increasingly common – water recycling.
These days, many countries already rely on recycled water.
With much of the Canadian population living in the south of the country, and most of our fresh water in the north, we can’t move the supply to the people fast enough. This is where recycling comes in.
“Grey” water – residential waste water that comes from things like dish washing, laundry and bathing – is not heavily polluted and can be recycled and re-used effectively with the advanced oxidation process. After harmful chemicals are removed, the water can be safely used for virtually anything.
The solid mass of pollutants and chemicals removed from the water is appropriately termed “sludge”, and is produced in great amounts during water filtration. For decades, many countries have used this questionable substance as fertilizer, with potentially dangerous effects.
“If it still contains harmful chemicals, they can be leached into ground water and plant roots,” says Ray, who believes advanced oxidation can pre-treat sludge and make it safer to use. “We can produce better quality sludge that can be used for application in agricultural land.”
And the benefits don’t stop there – sludge can also be used as a source of green energy. The methane produced during treatment can be used as a principal ingredient of natural gas.
For all of the benefits of advanced oxidation, Ray believes that Canadian water companies such as London’s Trojan Technologies and Purifics are ahead of the curve and should look to jump on a potential global market.
“It’s a good niche for Canada.”
No matter who produces it, advanced oxidation is a super-technology with power that is just now being realized after decades of research. After 15 years of her own research, Ray can list off a number of different uses for this technology that could very well change the future for us all.
Jesse Reynolds is a graduate student in journalism and intern at Western News.