In Canada, it may seem that clean water will never run out. The Great Lakes basin is one of the largest fresh water reserves in the world. But water has no boundaries, it can move from the air to the earth to the ocean, and many of the services and technologies that come with being an advanced society create pollutants that can contaminate our water supply. For example, the dry-cleaning compound, perchloroethylene or PERC, is toxic. The University of Waterloo recently showed that nitrates from fertilizer used today could persist in drinking water for decades.
Many researchers are turning to Nature for problem-solving inspiration. You may have read about how Prof. David Sinton is harnessing photosynthetic organisms like algae to produce energy. Elizabeth Edwards, Professor in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry and Director of Biozone at the University of Toronto, is using single-celled microorganisms to clean up contaminated water.
“Little microorganisms, single-celled creatures, use the things that we think are nasty – contaminants or poisons – they can use them as their food,” says Prof. Edwards.
Using molecular biology, analytical chemistry, and genetics, Prof. Edwards’ lab studies microbial communities to understand how they perform these biodegradation reactions. They can then use this information to tailor the conditions under which these creatures work and speed up the rate at which they decompose contaminants. The Edwards lab also looks for new microbial species that perform ever newer biotransformation reactions.
One such microorganism culture that the Edwards lab identified is now being sold worldwide through the spin-off company SiREM. This specialized microorganism can degrade PERC and other highly related industrial solvents. Contaminated industrial sites can now release it to remediate the area.