Bath flexes mussels to reduce shelling out on water treatment

Dr Darrell Patterson, from the University’s Department of Chemical Engineering, used waste mussel shells to create what is claimed to be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way of treating waste water, which could then be used to remove substances including hormones, pharmaceuticals or fertilisers.

Traditional wastewater treatment broadly involves the removal of any solids and oils; then the filtering and degradation of the biological content of the sewage, which is derived from human waste, food waste, soaps and detergent.

Finally a tertiary treatment is used to further improve the quality of the water before it is released. There are different methods of tertiary treatment, and one of the most effective is the photocatalysis of water to remove any final trace contaminants.

This process normally uses titanium dioxide which is expensive. By replacing this with hydroxyapatite (a material containing calcium that is derived from seashells), Dr Patterson is aiming to significantly reduce the cost and reusing a renewable unwanted waste product.