CNN's Going Green explores the innovations protecting and purifying water
HONG KONG, Nov. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Water is one of the most precious resources on our planet – we use it to grow food, produce energy, and many products we use rely on it. It is interconnected with everything, and all living things need water to survive. Yet polluted waterways, dwindling access to reserves and declining ocean reefs are putting this vital element in peril. In this episode of Going Green, CNN visits the innovators around the world discovering new ways to protect, preserve and purify the lifeblood of our planet.
First, CNN visits Cape RADD, an organization in South Africa focused on conserving the Great African Sea Forest and the wildlife that live there. Cape RADD is dedicated to marine research that engages both biologists and citizen scientists. South Africa is one of the top global hotspots for sharks, and one project Cape RADD has embarked upon is studying the shy shark species. With the help of a high-tech shark monitoring database and photographs taken during citizen snorkelling dives, they're aiming to improve protections for these sharks and their habitat.
CNN then explores a solar-powered desalination solution created by Elemental Water Makers, which aims to provide clean water in areas that are water-scarce or have limited access to electricity. More than 2 billion people globally do not have access to clean drinking water. After seeing one rural community in Madagascar facing this reality, the Dutch company's CEO Sid Vollebregt and co-founder Reinoud Feenstra were determined to find a solution for water scarcity. Their innovation was built around reverse osmosis - a water purification process that removes contaminants by pushing water through a porous membrane. Vollebregt tells CNN that one machine can create 22,000 liters of water on a single day, drastically improving lives of communities and improving illness rates.
CNN then travels to the California, US to visit Epic Cleantec, a startup recycling wastewater into reusable non-potable water. The company seeks to make water use more circular by creating water recycling systems built within buildings themselves, thus eliminating the need to discharge wastewater into a sewer and transport it to a remote treatment facility. Epic Cleantec's CEO Aaron Tartakovsky says their system recycles up to 95% of a building's wastewater for reuse in non-potable applications like toilets and irrigation. They created a beer made from recycled water to show the potential of water reuse, which encourages people to rethink the way they perceive wastewater.
Next, CNN visits Glanris, a company converting agricultural waste like rice hulls into a water filtration medium capable of removing contaminants and metals from water, all while sequestering carbon. Glanris was founded in Mississippi, US, right across America's largest rice-producing state, Arkansas, with the mission to take agricultural waste and turn it into biochar. Not only does this conversion process remove carbon dioxide from the normal carbon cycle, biochar can also be used in a variety of products like plastics, water filtration and battery anodes. Biochar's porous nature is also said to improve soil production by increasing water and nutrient retention in the soil. Its potential as a greener, lower cost solution to purifying water has also led Glanris to partner with Clear Genius, a water filter company, to develop a more sustainable filtration medium.
Finally, CNN meets Bloom, a sustainable materials company that's turning toxic algae waste into plastics used in consumer products. While algae can be beneficial in many ways, pollution can turn algae into harmful blooms which can deplete oxygen levels, release toxins and kill aquatic life. 'Bloom Sustainable Materials' was thus born out of a desire to help solve this problem by cleaning waterways and creating eco-friendly plastic material out of the collected algae. Bloom's algae-blended products can be made into footwear, sporting gear and other wearables. Bloom says they have cleaned over a billion liters of water and sequestered over a million kilograms of CO2 from the atmosphere in the process.
Going Green trailer: bit.ly/3scH4Fx
Going Green images: bit.ly/3s39t0J
Going Green microsite: https://cnn.it/3bMvOqF
Airtimes for 30-minute special:
Saturday, 4th November at 1:30pm HKT
Sunday, 5th November at 3am HKT
About CNN International
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