Dr. Adi Radian and post-doctoral student Dr. Samapti Kundu of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed an innovative technology for removing dangerous pollutants from drinking water.

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PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substancesis) is a family of pollutants also known as "forever chemicals" because of their chemical stability and environmental persistence. PFAS substances can be found in various products ranging from non-stick pan coating to water-repellant additives. The forever chemicals find their way into groundwater through agricultural irrigation that uses treated wastewater and when fire-fighting substances seep into the soil.

Once in the ground, PFAS pollutants contaminate drinking water sources, leading to increased human exposure, which according to international studies can lead to cancer, heart and liver disease, fertility problems, birth defects, and damage to the immune system.

Israel now monitors these substances, and last summer stopped pumping potable water in the region surrounding Haifa after a large concentration of PFAS was identified in the area.

It is fairly simple and inexpensive to remove PFAS chemicals from drinking water. The downside of the existing methods is that they are inefficient, and also that they do not eliminate the pollutants – they transfer them from the water to absorbent material.

Another disadvantage to the technology currently in use is that they can wind up removing substances that are essential for public health.

The new Technion research, published in Chemical Engineering Journal, examined the possibility of combining two new solutions – the use of oxidation processes and targeted polymers – that to date have not demonstrated satisfactory results, then applying advanced oxidation processes to eliminate the chemicals.

The findings indicate that proper planning leads to high efficiency under a wide range of acidity (pH) and salinity. The method depicted in the article demonstrates the removal of seven types of PFAS – even when all of them are found in the same unit of fluid – at a level of efficiency that approaches 90%, within a few minutes.

The system described in the article is based on safe and inexpensive natural materials. The researchers used soil minerals – iron oxides and clays – in combination with cyclodextrin polymers. The clay-iron-polymer composites act as accelerators that confine the PFAS on the water surface and then accelerate the oxidation process that reduces the pollutants into non-toxic substances (fluoride ions, water, and carbon dioxide). This combination efficiently removes the PFAS and does not release unwanted substances in water used for drinking.

In their article, the researchers show that this system makes complementary processes such as heating, UV radiation, and using sound waves unnecessary.

The research was conducted in the Soil Chemistry Laboratory in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The researchers wish to thank the Lady Davis Foundation for Samapti Kundu's post-doctoral research grant.

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Approximately 80% of drinking water in Israel is desalinated water, coming from the Mediterranean Sea. Now, scientists from the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology and Wageningen University and Wetsus (European center of excellence for sustainable water) in the Netherlands have developed a way to improve the quality of desalinated water, while reducing the costs of the process. The findings of the international team's study were published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America).

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Desalination removes mineral particles (salts) from saltwater, making it fit for human consumption and irrigation. The chemical properties of some particles make them more challenging to remove than others. Boron, which is naturally found in high quantities in the Mediterranean Sea, is among the hardest to remove, as change in acidity causes it to change its properties. Boron is toxic in high concentrations, and it harms plant growth, which is a problem in the context of irrigation. The normal process of boron removal involves dosing the water with a base in order to facilitate removing the boron, followed by removal of the base.

The most commonly used method of desalination is by means of a membrane – a sort of sieve that allows water to pass through it, while blocking other particles, based on their size or charge. This membrane, however, is expensive, and needs to be replaced periodically.

Ph.D. students Amit Shocron and Eric Guyes, under the supervision of Professor Matthew Suss of the Technion Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, together with their collaborators from Wageningen University and Wetsus, have developed a new modeling technique to predict the behavior of boron during desalination by means of capacitive deionization.

Deionization is an emerging technique for water treatment and desalination that uses relatively cheap porous electrodes, as opposed to the expensive membrane. When an electric current is applied, charged particles (like boron under high pH conditions) are absorbed by the electrodes and hence removed from the water.

Shocron formulated the theoretical framework that allowed this breakthrough, while Eric Guyes constructed the experimental setup. Working together, they were able to develop the novel system. Shocron and Guyes found that for optimal boron removal, the positive electrode should be placed upstream of the negative electrode – counter to the accepted wisdom in their field. They also calculated the optimal applied voltage for the system, finding that higher voltage does not necessarily improve the system's effectiveness.

The method the group developed could be used to solve other water treatment challenges, such as the removal of medicine residues and herbicides from water sources.

Prof. Suss is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Wolfson Department of Chemical Engineering at Technion- Israel Institute of Technology and is affiliated with the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program and Stephen and Nancy Grand Water Research Institute at Technion.

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Yet even with its entire eastern coast taken up with the Mediterranean Sea – and with an interest in water technology that borders almost on obsession – it has only been since about the turn of the millennium that Israeli research and development have substantively taken off in this area.

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So why now?

With 70% of the Earth's surface covered by oceans and seas, there is more to learn about those bodies of water than is humanly possible. Indeed, there is tremendous untapped potential in these uncharted waters and infinite discoveries to be made, whether in the field of health and food or a greater understanding of delicate submarine ecosystems.

Recent estimates suggest that the world's population will exceed 8 billion people by 2024, accompanied by a fear that land-based resources will come under huge strain on dry land and others in the waters. Marine biologists and researchers from the University of Haifa's Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences have been turning their attention to understanding more about this hidden world.

"Marine sciences are gaining more and more exposure, especially compared to the time when I started studying," said Oded Ezra, who earned an MSc from the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Haifa.

"The field [of gas seeps and carbonate rocks in the deep sea] is really growing. Numerous scientific and technologically oriented departments have opened at universities and new companies have been formed around the industry. Of course, there is still a lot of room for further development."

It's not only the "what," but also the "how" that these technologies and new approaches can be put to work. While carrying out submarine hydrographic and geophysical surveys, Ezra understood the range of employment opportunities in the field.

"These projects include, among other things, deep-sea floor mappings or mapping around maritime ports," he said. "There are also surveys conducted for the gas industry that include environmental monitoring, such as water and soil samples."

Whether it was synchronous or fortunate, the emergence of this research occurred around the same time that Israel discovered a large natural gas deposit off its coast approximately a decade ago. The discovery was not just an economic and political boon; it also led to new questions about what the seafloor in those areas looked like, as well as what kind of underwater life existed in these regions.

This is one of the overarching points about the seas; there are myriad utilities and applications for water, wave energy or the variations of marine life. For instance, despite the growth of civil aviation, almost all of Israel's imported and exported goods are delivered and transported by sea.

"Essentially everything goes by sea … without the sea, Israel would have no access to the world," said Professor Zvi Ben-Avraham, Israel Prize recipient and the founder and director of the Mediterranean Sea Research Center of Israel.

In addition to the transportation of goods, the sea provides Israel with the plurality of its drinking water – within the next few years, 75% of that drinking water.

"Global temperatures are rising and more areas are in danger of desertification. As a result, saltwater desalination is the only way many countries can produce reserves of drinking water, and we are seeing exactly how that is happening in Israel," explained Professor Ilana Bergman-Frank, a biological oceanographer and the director of University of Haifa's Charney School.

This also has its challenges, as desalinated water does not possess the same combination of nutrients as untreated, natural water.

At the Charney School, Ben-Avraham's idea of placing everything connected with marine studies under one roof helped create a multidisciplinary unit where related humanities could meet relevant natural and social sciences. In effect, it was an academic startup.

This was strengthened by the presence of individuals such as Tamar Lotan, head of the Department of Marine Biology at the University, who blended her extensive academic career with the creation of two successful biotech startups.

Another aspect of marine technology that is gathering pace and popularity in Israel is the use of autonomous robots. One specific application of the robots is the attempt to create clearer underwater pictures, altering a milky, mysterious blur to a much sharper image at depth. The Israeli company SEAERRA Vision, for example, has been working to develop algorithms for vision systems for scuba divers, robots and underwater vehicles for a variety of business and private sector uses. In many cases, the use of robots is crucial to enable mapping of the sea.

What does all of this mean, and what does the future have in store?

Nearly 60 years ago, US President John F. Kennedy challenged NASA scientists to explore the possibility of landing on the moon. By the end of that decade (although he would not get to see it), the task had been accomplished.

Today, more people have walked on the moon than have walked on the deepest trench of the ocean floor. Instead of looking up to the heavens as the final frontier, scientists and researchers should be looking beneath the surface of the sea, while acknowledging that understanding more about what goes on underwater will greatly benefit humanity for generations to come.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The machine, a technological innovation of the Israel-based company, arrived in Cúcuta at the beginning of October thanks to Andrés Suárez, pastor of the Christian Center and general manager of the alliance project with the State of Israel in Colombia.

Suárez said he was driven by a desire to show residents in northern Colombia that such technology can provide some of the neediest communities in the region with safe drinking water.

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Requiring no external infrastructure to operate except for a source of electricity, Watergen's GEN-M can make up to 800 liters (200 gallons) of water per day.

With a weight of just 780 kilograms (1700 pounds), the machine is easily transportable and specially designed to help isolated communities that do not have adequate access to clean water.

Like Watergen's other AWGs, after collecting ambient air and cleansing it of impurities, the GEN-M uses the company's patented, heat-exchange GENius technology to create water by cooling the air at its dew point. Subsequently, the liquid is filtered and purified with carbon. Using ultraviolet rays, any remaining bacteria is eliminated.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Watergen produces an atmospheric water generator known as the GEN-350, which can produce up to 900 liters (240 gallons) of water per day.

With a weight of just 780 kg. (1,700 pounds), the GEN-350 is transportable and can be installed easily. Each unit contains an internal water-treatment system and needs no infrastructure except a source of electricity in order to operate.

GEN-350 was installed at the orphanage as part of a test pilot, estimated to run for about two months.

A popular tourist destination associated with arid weather conditions, Bukhara has recently been experiencing serious water shortages.

Earlier this month, the water supply was disrupted for almost two days. The entire city of Bukhara was left without drinking water, including several busy hotels. Since the local underground water is unusable, fresh water is currently supplied to Bukhara from the city of Samarkand, almost 300 kilometers (200 miles) away.

Watergen President Dr. Michael Mirilashvili said that "Uzbekistan's water utility company was thrilled with our water-from-air solution and requested to run pilots in several other regions of Uzbekistan. Although there is only 20% humidity in the air of Bukhara, the GEN-350 was still able to generate hundreds of liters of high-quality drinking water."

The inauguration ceremony for the new system was attended by senior Uzbeki political leaders, including First Deputy Prime Minister Achilbay Ramatov; Prosecutor General Otabek Murodov; Bukhara region Governor Uktam Barnoev; and Bukhara Mayor Karim Kamolov.

Michael Rutman, Watergen's vice president of sales and marketing, said the children were "very excited to drink the high-quality water."

This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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