Researchers at UPEI are experimenting with using sawdust to treat wastewater and hope to be able to use it to remove “forever chemicals” such as PFAS in the future.
The project uses sawdust from local mills on Prince Edward Island and processes it into activated carbon, which is commonly used in household water filtration devices.
Yulin HuAssociate Professor of Engineering at UEI, says it acts similar to a sponge.
“Once pollutants get in, they stay in. [the] open space,” she said. “So now you can get them out of the water.”
So far, Hu says they have tested it on synthetic dyes, water pollutants commonly found in the textile industry. The next step is to test it on real wastewater from some PEI plants.
While researchers have yet to test its effectiveness against PFAS-contaminated water, Hu said there's a chance it could help islanders deal with the problem. chemicals contaminating drinking water.
Federal government report said exposure to PFAS can be harmful to the body, including the liver, kidneys, immune system, reproductive system and nervous system.
“Drinking water is very important,” Hu said. “There are some communities on P.E.I. that have been hit hard by PFAS in their wastewater, so we wanted to help them and then we kind of thought, what solutions could we come up with?”
“It's on us”
Milad Jalilyan is a graduate student at UEI who has been working on the project for the past two years.
“It’s on us,” he said. “We are humans and we pollute the water, so we have to clean it up too.”
Jalilian used to be a petroleum engineer. He said he often saw oil spills while working on an offshore platform, which eventually led him to do this type of research.
“You help the community, you help the environment. When you see it, you feel great.”
One of the goals of the project is to create a filter that can be used at home and in industrial enterprises.
The researchers are also turning sawdust into biochar, which is created from natural waste typically generated in the agriculture and forestry sectors.
Hu says the product could potentially be used by farmers to retain more water in the soil.
