Dive Brief:
- Researchers in Finland have discovered a freezing technology that can purify waste water. The purification method is based on the natural freezing process.
- After waste water is frozen, various layers of ice form, separating the clean ice from the waste. The clean ice layer can be removed, leaving behind the concentrated waste layer.
- The only energy that is utilized in the process is the breaking and subsequent transportation of the ice.
Dive Insight:
The discovery could prove extremely useful. After freezing, the waste water from mines would be removed after the distinct layers form.
Researchers could then extract the ice and then prepare it for treatment and recycling. That means that the use of fresh water for industrial practices could be reduced as recycled water is utilized instead. The freezing technique holds particular promise in the mineral extraction industry.