Kasey Dresser | February 26, 2018

This week’s segment looks at research from Australia that’s working toward making clean water accessible to everyone. 

Transcript: 

A new invention from Australian scientists could filter even the most polluted water in just one pass.

This is the Iowa Environmental Focus.

Australian researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO, have found a way to engineer graphene film to filter water.

Graphene is an ultra-strong, carbon-based material that is hydrophobic— meaning it repels water. But graphene is expensive and difficult to produce. The researchers at CSIRO have found a way to use hydrophobic properties to help filter polluted water while finding a way to reduce the cost of the filter.

The scientist hope this new use of graphene will slowly become easier and cheaper to produce, potentially saving millions of people that die from contaminated water globally.

For more information, visit iowa-environmental-focus-dot-org.

From the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Betsy Stone.