Water projects are about more than just leaks

Technology is often influenced by nature. Scientists and inventors look at the way the natural world solves problems and apply their findings to developing solutions to human problems.

Now, there is a growing movement to use nature itself as a means of solving human problems and plants are proving integral to this.

Plants and humans

In addition to serving as foods and medicines, plants have long served numerous purposes around the home.  Many natural fibres, for example, are created from plants as are the dyes which colour them.  Plants have also traditionally been used for insulation, as seen on the grass-covered homes of years gone by.  This custom has been refreshed in the form of the green roofs and living walls now found in many modern buildings.  Plants are also used to cleanse the air and some of them are extremely good at it as demonstrated in research by NASA, which was looking to find effective, low-energy ways to ensure clean, health air on space stations.  Now water companies are looking at harnessing plant-power to treat sewage water.

The concept

At the present time sewage treatment is essentially a process of filtration and cleansing.  Physical filters remove solid matter from the stream of liquid (although it would be better if much of this solid matter did not make its way into the sewage system in the first place), while cleansing systems remove hazardous matter from what is left.  At this point we should point out that the liquid which ends up in the sewage system is not just human waste, it also contains other substances such as cleaning chemicals, which vary in their level of toxicity.  Over the longer term, it is to be hoped that there will be a general move towards more environmentally-friendly behaviours, such as a reduction in the use of chemical cleaners, however it is unlikely that these will ever be eliminated completely due to the need to maintain exceptionally high levels of hygiene in certain environments.  Right now, there are two main ways of neutralising these chemicals to make them safe before the treated water is reintroduced into the natural water system.  One is to use further chemicals to counteract them, the other is to use processing systems which avoid chemicals but require carbon.  Neither of these is ideal from an environmental perspective.  Now, a third approached is being developed, that of using wetland plants to remove at least some of the chemicals.

The implementation

The first wetland sewage treatment centre was opened in early 2018.  It is located on the river Ingol and is owned and managed by Anglian Water but was created in partnership with the Norfolk Rivers Trust.  This partnership underlines the fact that the scheme works in harmony with the natural world, rather than in conflict with it.  Indeed, it achieves the highly desirable goal of drawing an economic benefit from an important natural environment, without harming that environment itself.  This helps to provide means and motive for the preservation of the wetlands which have massive biodiversity.  The success of the scheme is such that Anglian Water is now eager to extend it and has submitted plans to Ofwat for approval.  Assuming that approval is granted, dozens of these treatment plants could be developed in the coming years alone and looking to the future, the area could eventually contain as many as 60 of them.  Of course, this particular scheme does take advantage of the famous Norfolk wetlands, which are characteristic of the area, therefore it may not be suitable for large-scale implementation, even across the UK.  It does, however, give a flavour of what is possible and what may be to come.