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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
The water coming out of your faucet is safe to drink, but that doesn't mean it's completely clean. Chlorine has long been the standard for water treatment, but it often contains trace levels of disinfection byproducts and unknown contaminants. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers developed the minus approach to handle these harmful byproducts.
Instead of relying on traditional chemical addition (known as the plus approach), the minus approach avoids disinfectants, chemical coagulants, and advanced oxidation processes typical to water treatment processes. It uses a unique mix of filtration methods to remove byproducts and pathogens, enabling water treatment centers to use ultraviolet light and much smaller doses of chemical disinfectants to minimize future bacterial growth down the distribution system.
"The minus approach is a groundbreaking philosophical concept in water treatment," said Yongsheng Chen, the Bonnie W. and Charles W. Moorman IV Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "Its primary objective is to achieve these outcomes while minimizing the reliance on chemical treatments, which can give rise to various issues in the main water treatment stream."
Chen and his student Elliot Reid, the primary author, presented the minus approach in the paper, "The Minus Approach Can Redefine the Standard of Practice of Drinking Water Treatment," in the Environmental Science & Technology journal.
The minus approach physically separates emerging contaminants and disinfection byproducts from the main water treatment process using these already proven processes:
The minus approach is intended to engage the water community in designing safer, more sustainable, and more intelligent systems. Because its technologies are already available and proven, the minus approach can be implemented immediately.
Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology
More information: Elliot Reid et al, The Minus Approach Can Redefine the Standard of Practice of Drinking Water Treatment, Environmental Science & Technology (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09389
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday September 15 2023, @09:34PM (1 child)
Go big or go home.
I too propane torch my sidewalk cracks, unfortunately one place I lived the sidewalk would spall from the heat before the weeds would really die. It has a lot to do with the species, I think.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 16 2023, @09:58AM
Dandelions are a bugger for this, the tap root usually survives the incineration, and as you've just added some fertiliser composed of the ash of it's now dead competitors to the surrounding soil, it's remarkable how fast it'll grow back.
I've been told that the electric hot air guns work better for weeds like this as the forced stream of 300-450°C air to the soil at the base of the plant penetrates the soil better and deeper than the heat of the flame from a torch, so is more effective at zapping the root systems.
I've not been able to verify this myself, as I've still not yet found one of these electric weed wands/guns that I've been willing to buy, not being happy about the poor construction of the ones I've looked at.
Once we've a couple of dry days forecast, I'm hitting my weed ridden path with an initial spraying of acetic acid then following it up with the gas torch a couple of days later (gas torch, as my paraffin/kerosene flame gun is currently U/S, and the current prices of spare parts for it are fecking ridiculous..)