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Stephania D

Cactus Goo - 0 views

dsc.discovery.com/...cactus-arsenic-water.html

cactus goo water pollution

shared by Stephania D on 01 Dec 08 - Cached
  • used for scouring arsenic, bacteria and cloudiness out of rural drinking water
  • There, the residual water from boiling the flat, oval-shaped lobes of prickly pear for salads and other dishes was used to clear up cloudy water drawn from the river before use for cooking or drinking.
  • Mucilage is the clear, gooey, viscous liquid from within the cactus which helps to seal water inside the plant so it can survive desert-dry conditions.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • She found that the mucilage binds to the dirt and causes the particles to coagulate, forming large enough clumps that they can settle out of the water.
  • The group's more recent research has shown that the mucilage can also form a complex with arsenic, a carcinogenic water contaminant that can occur naturally or from industrial or agricultural pollution.
  • "Sometimes we get 80 percent removal, and sometimes we get lower than 50 percent removal," Alcantar said. "We don't yet know exactly what it is; we haven't found what are the exact best conditions for the mucilage [to get the most arsenic removal]."
  • Stephania D on 01 Dec 08
     
    Cactus goo can make water safer
Stephania D

Cactus Goo Makes Water Safe: Discovery News - 0 views

dsc.discovery.com/...cactus-arsenic-water-02.html

shared by Stephania D on 03 Dec 08 - Cached
  • Other ongoing research by Alcantar's team has shown that the mucilage can also kill bacteria in the water, solving another potential water quality problem.
  • The mucilage either engulfs the bacteria and starves them, or it binds to the bacteria and causes them to settle out of the water.
  • Mucilage consists of carbohydrates and sugars.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • "She knows these communities so she understands the social aspects that are involved. She's keeping in mind that the one who is going to be making these filters is going to be the person who is drinking the water. That's rarely done in engineering design."
    • Stephania D
      Stephania D on 03 Dec 08
       
      In Mexico, Temamatla the people how used the cactus pear because they know it's makes the water more safe.
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