Water is a scarce nonrenewable resource. Much of the
developing world does not have access to clean water, a resource that the
developed world takes for granted. I’d like to share some infographics
from Water.org that illustrate how dire the water situation is.
After seeing this I began to wonder what could be done to
help conserve clean water. An idea
I explored in an earlier blog was the waterless washing machine, and the
machine is certainly one thing that can be done to help water usage, but what
if clothing didn’t have to be washed at all?
Scientists working for the United States Air Force have developed
a finishing process that allows clothing to be worn for weeks without washing
that remains hygienic. The new technology attaches nanoparticles to clothing
fibers using microwaves. Then, chemicals that can repel water, oil and bacteria
are directly bound to the nanoparticles. These two elements combine to create a
protective coating on the fibers of the material.
This coating kills bacteria and forces liquids to bead and
run off.
The coating is already being applied to t-shirts and
underwear that soldiers wear, but there are many other useful applications
including biological and chemical protective clothing for healthcare, food
processing, and farm workers.
Another finishing process is being developed by US
scientists at the University of California. The procedure would be simple enough that it can be applied
during the dyeing process and would bond to the cellulose group in cotton.
If the clothing we wore did not have to be washed as often we
would be able to save approximately 40 gallons of water per load of laundry that
did not have to be washed. If you normally
wash a load of laundry a week you would be conserving 120 gallons of water each
month by buying clothes that don’t require frequent laundering.
Sources:
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/September/01091103.asp
http://www.livescience.com/9497-cleaning-underwear-weeks-washing.html
-William Diak
No comments:
Post a Comment