{"id":78148,"date":"2020-05-21T17:05:33","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T15:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=78148"},"modified":"2020-05-11T08:43:44","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T06:43:44","slug":"21-05-54","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=78148","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Israeli startup making water drinkable again"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.reunion68.com\/Biuletyn\/img\/israel21c.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"30%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/meet-the-israeli-startup-making-water-drinkable-again\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meet the Israeli startup making water drinkable again<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong> Naama Barak<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>BlueGreen Water Technologies battles algal blooms that are devastating bodies of water around the globe in a cost-effective, planet-friendly way.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/main-1168x657.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Water in South Africa\u2019s Roodeplaat Dam Reservoir turns clear following treatment with BlueGreen Water Technologies\u2019 solution. Photo: courtesy<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">You\u2019d think that bacteria would be hard to see with the naked eye, and even harder to spot from outer space. But when it comes to toxic algal blooms, even satellites orbiting Earth can\u2019t miss it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Blue-green algal blooms are toxic bacteria scientifically known as cyanobacterial blooms. These occur when a water ecosystem becomes unhinged as a result of internal or external contamination. The photosynthesizing algae proliferate and take over all the resources in the lakes or reservoirs and ruin their ecosystem, sometimes even turning them into dead aquatic zones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">This isn\u2019t bad news only for the body of water and its plant and animal inhabitants, but also for the people who live around it and rely on it for their drinking water, livelihood and recreation. Drinking the water becomes out of the question, as does eating the fish that lived there. Consuming vegetables that were grown using the water is also not advisable, and neither is bathing in it \u2013 it literally stinks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/shutterstock_1335915632.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Algal blooms take over all the resources in bodies of waters and can render them dead aquatic zones. A red algal bloom in Sarsota, Florida, summer 2018. Photo by Shutterstock.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">This is where Israeli startup BlueGreen Water Technologies steps in. Founded in 2014, the company started as one of the cofounders\u2019 doctoral dissertation on cyanobacteria. It turns existing forms of algal blooms treatments into a more efficient, planet-friendly and easy-to-use solution.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eT5DoDQS2CM\" width=\"680\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">You\u2019d think that bacteria would be hard to see with the naked eye, and even harder to spot from outer space. But when it comes to toxic algal blooms, even satellites orbiting Earth can\u2019t miss it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Blue-green algal blooms are toxic bacteria scientifically known as cyanobacterial blooms. These occur when a water ecosystem becomes unhinged as a result of internal or external contamination. The photosynthesizing algae proliferate and take over all the resources in the lakes or reservoirs and ruin their ecosystem, sometimes even turning them into dead aquatic zones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">This isn\u2019t bad news only for the body of water and its plant and animal inhabitants, but also for the people who live around it and rely on it for their drinking water, livelihood and recreation. Drinking the water becomes out of the question, as does eating the fish that lived there. Consuming vegetables that were grown using the water is also not advisable, and neither is bathing in it \u2013 it literally stinks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Algal blooms take over all the resources in bodies of waters and can render them dead aquatic zones. A red algal bloom in Sarsota, Florida, summer 2018. Photo by Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">This is where Israeli startup BlueGreen Water Technologies steps in. Founded in 2014, the company started as one of the cofounders\u2019 doctoral dissertation on cyanobacteria. It turns existing forms of algal blooms treatments into a more efficient, planet-friendly and easy-to-use solution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cFor years, it was common practice to work with algicides, specifically copper,\u201d explains BlueGreen\u2019s CEO and co-founder Eyal Harel. \u201cIt\u2019s excellent material, it works great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cBut it\u2019s a heavy metal that sticks around \u2013 it mounts up and in the end it\u2019s a chemical,\u201d he says. \u201cIn the past 25 years a new algicide based on hydrogen peroxide was introduced. It also does a great job, but it\u2019s hydrogen peroxide. The way it\u2019s being used today requires a very, very great deal of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Using copious amounts of these substances is not great for the environment and not always efficient in treating the algal blooms. This is because the bloom resides on the surface of the water and is moved around by the currents, while the chemicals used to treat it are heavy and sink to the bottom, meaning that large amounts of the algicides go to waste.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>New treatment paradigm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWe took the same chemical materials,\u201d Harel explains, \u201cand in a very clever procedure we gave them a nano-coating with a material that we developed using a process that we developed. It doesn\u2019t do anything to the physical substances but it changes their physical properties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWe took a heavy substance that quickly sinks and disintegrates when you put it in water and we turned it into a \u2018light\u2019 substance,\u201d he says. \u201cThe final result is that it floats atop the water and slowly releases the active material.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">BlueGreen\u2019s Lake Guard solution comes in pellet form. Users simply throw a small amount into the body of water, and the active ingredients are released from their coating within four to six hours. According to Harel, results can be seen within 24 to 48 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a silver bullet,\u201d he says. \u201cAll you need to do is to put a very small amount of the chemical on a local level and the material starts to move in the water on its own.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWith this, we managed to change the treatment paradigm,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/pi.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Lake Guard pellets are thrown into the Roodeplaat Dam Reservoir to treat toxic algal blooms. Photo: courtesy<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Global problem<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">BlueGreen began marketing Lake Guard in 2018 and is already working with most of the water reservoirs in Israel \u2013 some 600 of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cIsrael is our beta site,\u201d Harel says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWorking in Israel is very convenient,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe variety we were exposed to was huge, and the distances between the reservoirs are nothing. That\u2019s why it\u2019s really great for carrying out research and development.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">BlueGreen\u2019s potential clients range from farmers with a little lake in their back yard to municipalities and regional water authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cFurther down the line, the goal is to reach international cooperation regarding water that\u2019s outside territorial waters,\u201d Harel says, noting that algal blooms can appear anywhere around the world, the North and South poles included, and they\u2019re becoming a greater problem with time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cLike any bacterial infection, it keeps on growing,\u201d he says. \u201cThe curve is very clear all around the world. From year to year the phenomenon is becoming more acute.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In February, BlueGreen treated the 4.4-square-kilometer Roodeplaat Dam Reservoir near Pretoria, South Africa. There, the agal blooms were so bad that they could be viewed by satellite and rendered the water unsuitable for use. Within days, the situation was reversed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cOne of the places we\u2019re going to treat in the next few weeks is in China, a place that\u2019s been suffering from blooms for the past 25 years. They\u2019ve tried treating it for the past 15 years and have failed time after time,\u201d Harel says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">He adds that the coronavirus crisis hasn\u2019t had much effect on business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cAt the end of the day, water is a must \u2013 corona or not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet the Israeli startup making water drinkable again Naama Barak BlueGreen Water Technologies battles algal blooms that are devastating bodies of water around the globe in a cost-effective, planet-friendly way. Water in South Africa\u2019s Roodeplaat Dam Reservoir turns clear following treatment with BlueGreen Water Technologies\u2019 solution. Photo: courtesy You\u2019d think that bacteria would be hard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78148"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78170,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78148\/revisions\/78170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}