Recycled Tires Could Filter Water 112
MattSparkes writes "According to New Scientist, water could be cleansed and filtered more easily and cheaply by using old tires. From the article: 'Rubber tires, the kind that lie at the bottom of rivers and at the back of junkyards the world over, could be ideal water filters says an environmental engineer at Penn State University in the US.'"
More Information (Score:5, Informative)
Note that on his homepage under news [psu.edu] he has "A patent "Method of Using Waste Tires As A Filter Media" was issued to me on November 29, 2005. With 40% of royalties to the inventor (other 60% goes to Penn State), I am going to be a rich professor very soon."
Which reveals he applied for this patent [uspto.gov] on Aug. 26, 1999.
A lot of the material I can find online makes it look as though he's been working on this for six years, he was just waiting for the patent to to be granted [uspto.gov]. It seems now they just have to verify tha the water that is processed doesn't leach out any harmful toxins or heavy metals (as the article states). A side note is that he only has one other patent [uspto.gov] aside from this one.
Despite his plans to become rich over this, I hope he is very successful as a lot of countries (both 3rd and 1st world) could stand to benefit from this greatly.
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Well, I hope his new endevor goes better then his last one did (monitarily that i
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Ew (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ew (Score:4, Funny)
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But I see there was someone down the thread who actually said they were allergic to a component of the rubber.
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Men get breast cancer too (Score:2)
It's ok, you don't need to feel left out, men get breast cancer too [cancerbackup.org.uk] (about 250 a year in the UK). So keep on worrying.
Fort Lauderdale says no (Score:3, Interesting)
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How old are they talking, here? (Score:3, Insightful)
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Which millesimes are the best?
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Old water filters?
Re:How old are they talking, here? (Score:4, Informative)
Tires (almost all) are made of synthetic rubber and have been for many decades.
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Differences between tire brand/models? (Score:2, Funny)
like tires as reef? (Score:5, Interesting)
There was a case where someone had the bright idea of dumping tires over a huge area of open sea, to offer marine habitat. Years and years later, the barnacles and coral organisms haven't adopted this habitat, because the tide keeps pushing the tires around, unlike heavier debris. It's an eco-disaster, worse than nothing, essentially.
They're finally getting around to hauling them up, but volunteer effort can only go after a few tires at a time, with tens of thousands or millions of tires to go. Maybe if there was a clear use for all the tires, they could get some funds to lift the old "reef" up and use it for a different, and this time beneficial, marine-related purpose.
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It is still a good idea. That particular project failed because the metal clips -- the things that hold the tires together as a reef -- rusted away.
Yes, you read that right:
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The big plan now is for the US Navy
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- RG>
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Comment removed (Score:3, Funny)
Put them to good use! (Score:2, Funny)
What about rubber allergies? (Score:5, Interesting)
Whether water filtered through tires would bother me or not I don't know but it should be checked into first.
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Re:What about rubber allergies? (Score:5, Funny)
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Deer Park marketing guy #1: "Nobody is actually allergic to this kind of stuff, right?"
Deer Park marketing guy #2: "Well, there was this one guy on Slashdot who claimed he was, but I bet it was just a lie."
Deer Park marketing guy #1: "We should put a warning label on our bottles just to make sure he doesn't sue us. How about - 'Warning, this delicious and refreshing drink you are about to enjoy may contain water filtered using Recycled Tires, and may contain traces of cyclohe
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Unless you drink waste water (Score:2)
Allergens are one of many things they worry about in water for drinking.
what about passive filtration for road runoff? (Score:1)
Water filtering does not have to be just for drinking. For instance, all sort of chemicals make their way onto road surfaces. Then rain water carries those chemicals into local watersheds.
I think I read once that the Autobahn had a special semi-porous drainage layer made of some compound material.
I have no expertise, but maybe new roads -instead of just having standard runoffs- could be slanted to lead to passive filtration surfaces that would partially clean the water. And maybe ground-up old tires co
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I'm wondering if there isn't some way to use that sort of filtering as a good base for roads made from the old tires themselves. [ca.gov]
The tires that run on the road become the roads and filter water as an added bonus.
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And I thought that I, being allergic to eggplant, had an unusual allergy...
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Now I don't have to... (Score:1)
--Ram
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because I expect it to sit in my garage purifying the water supply
Other Uses (Score:5, Informative)
Crumb rubber has found uses in sewage plants as a filler material to bulk up the sewage, replacing the tons of wood chips that would normally have to be discarded. In places with erosion problems burying tires make excellent barriers combined with terracing techniques. There have also been programs to make artificial reefs with tires, making great fish habitats (if done properly that is). I read an article on using the 2" chips as mulch for blueberry plants. Some companies are playing with pyrolysis as well - getting a good deal of oil from the tires by heating them under an oxygen free and high pressure environment.
There's really no limit to what you can do with waste tires. If this method works well I'm sure some countries could benefit, though I don't know how well the filters work. I can't imagine them removing arsenic or bacteria, but possibly they could condition the water so that a better filter could last longer? The article was a little vague on details - anyone provide some insight to this end?
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Indeed, I think it was Euclid who devised the first proof of this- Something like:
1. Take any existing known use for the tires.
2. Combine it with any other known use.
3. ??? (Possibly "Nooo! I mean on the internet").
4. Profit!!! You have created a new use!
Rubberized asphalt is wonderful (Score:5, Informative)
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Any idea if rubberized asphalt is used elsewhere? Is it unfavorable in more humid areas of the country like the Midwest? C
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- RG>
Artificial Reefs (Score:2)
There have also been programs to make artificial reefs with tires, making great fish habitats (if done properly that is).
Yes, indeed. Tire reefs do have to be done properly. I heard an interesting story about a month ago on National Public Radio about an artificial reef off the coast of Florida. Apparently the thing consists of over a million old tires and the geniuses who constructed it back in the 1960s used steel chains to tie bunches of them together. Over the years, the chains corroded and broke
Tires are no good as Reefs (Score:2)
Molectra technology claims 100% recycling (Score:1)
Or... (Score:1, Insightful)
Duh! (Score:5, Funny)
Was told (Score:2)
Thats why we put them in the ocean! (Score:2, Insightful)
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Homestarrunner (Score:1)
Don't hold your breath (Score:4, Interesting)
From the last part of the article (for those who don't RTFA):
I, for one, do not welcome our contaminant-leaching, sewage adsorbing overlords.
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Better idea (Score:1)
So THAT's how they do it... (Score:5, Funny)
Springfield (Score:1)
If they'd put out the fire first.
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So what? The filters this is meant to replace (in water treatment plants) don't either.
Yummy... (Score:1)
Already in progress? (Score:2)
If they're lying at the bottom the river, aren't they already filtering our water?
Problems and Solution (Score:2)
Now, maybe this is just a gross oversimplification of the problem... but I came up with two solutions to this "problem" a second after I read it...
1) Multiple seperate filters, each only containing a single size of sand particle.
2) Use the natural process (gravity and water) to your advantage... If backflushing perfectly inverts the particles, turn the
Leaching ... (Score:1)
what other kinds of rubber? (Score:2)
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Bubble gum, maybe?
why stop at tyres? (Score:2)
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