Tiny Microbes May Cleanse Urban Waterways of Pollutants

Scientists have discovered tiny microbes with the potential to cleanse polluted waterways. They've found that microbial communities in urban waterways not only clean the water, but also act as raw water quality indicators.

The increased demand for water in urban center coupled with elevated pressures placed on the environment by high-density living has created a demand for efficient, environmentally sustainable solutions to manage urban watersheds. Harnessing the power of microbes could provide a solution.

In this case, the researchers identified members of an entire microbial community from the aquatic ecosystem at the Ulu Pandan catchment area by extracting their DNA and RNA. Interestingly, they found that the microbes could remove and neutralize organic pollutants. Not only that, but aluminum, copper and potassium were critical to the community's ability to perform its ecological "cleansing" properties.

"This study has enabled us to identify the key drivers of microbial communities and their functions at a watershed-scale," said Gourvendu Saxena, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The findings can be used to understand microbial activity responsible for removing and neutralizing organic pollutants, which is critical to developing ecologically friendly waterways in rapidly urbanizing environments."

These findings reveal that it may be possible to push the boundaries in securing the availability of clean water through natural means and maintain a more sustainable environment for urban areas. Currently, the scientists hope to expand the framework to other cities in order to ensure better water management.

The findings are published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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