Students invent natural way to purify polluted waterLast Updated: Friday,
November 15, 2002 9:47 PM ET
CBC News

Scallop shells can be used to clean up polluted water, three teenagers
in Halifax have discovered.James Beaton-Johnson, Elias Fares and Amy Trottier
began their award-winning research as Grade 12 students. They say the shells can
be used to clean up contaminated rivers, lakes and even Halifax Harbour. The
trio got the idea from a documentary about a Japanese fish farmer who tossed
oyster shells into a pond and found it cleared the dirty water.

The students at J.L. Ilsley high school began experimenting with
scallop shells immersed in dirty dish water. The water cleared in 24 hours.

Elias Fares, James Beaton-Johnson and Amy Trottier claimed second prize
in the Aventis Biotech ChallengeCourtesy: BioNovaThe students then used their
inexpensive, user-friendly method to improve the water quality on the MacIntosh
Run, a river flowing through their school property.

They discovered the shells' shape and chemical makeup neutralizes pH
and also helps filter out coliform bacteria, sediment and heavy metals.

Researchers at the National Research Council's Institute for Marine
Biosciences say they don't know of anyone else doing similar research. The
project has already won prizes at three science fairs.

Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly was so impressed with the students' research
that he offered them summer jobs testing their method on the municipal water
system. Their method successfully cleaned the water.

Next week, they'll present their project at the World Youth Parliament
for Water in Quebec City. The conference brings together 100 teens from 30
countries to reflect on water management.

The students have applied to patent their water-cleaning method, and
they are writing up their findings for a scientific journal. All three plan to
study science at university.


Fantastico!

Quais academicos quais carapucas...isto e' que sao verdadeiros cientistas! A gente precisa e' de gente com este espirito!

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