Using Nanotechnology to Purify Different Types of Water.
Nanotechnology is the Science and technology on the scale of a nanometer --
onebillionth of a meter. Nanotechnology refers to the ability to manipulate
individual atoms and molecules, with the potential to build machines on the
scale of human cells or create materials and structures from the bottom up,
with built in desired properties.
Nanoscale processes in the environment are new approaches to trapping and releasing
nutrients and contaminants, including complicated interactions with microbes.
One such process involves the deposition of a uniform nanometer titanium dioxide
coating on a solid substrate. As a result, it can oxidize most organic and inorganic
pollutants, and kill bacteria such as E. coli and Vibrio cholerae in seconds.
This leads to a very attractive and safe technology for water treatment. This
new treatment system has been proved to be more effective than conventional
UV irradiation, and can be applied to treatment of drinking water, industrial
or agricultural waste water and sea water.
We are going to test the effectiveness of this by taking our own samples of
drinking water, industrial and agricultural waste water and sea water and performing
the usual tests of water quality: BOD (biological oxygen demand), salinity,
total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, hardness,
alkalinity, temperature, heavy metals, pesticides depending on time, with and
without treatment with nanometer titanium dioxide on a solid substrate.