Cactus Gum Purifies Water
April 28, 2010
“Many water purification methods introduced into the developing world are quickly abandoned as people don’t know how to use and maintain them, says Norma Alcantar at the University of South Florida in Tampa. So she and her colleagues decided to investigate the prickly pear cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica, which 19th-century Mexican communities used as a water purifier. The cactus is found across the globe.” Continue reading HERE.
“The process of using cactus mucilage is quite old, something Alcantar learned from her grandmother. But now the process has been validated by, and improved by, science.
Here’s how it works:
‘Mucilage,’ a thick, gum-like substance in the cactus pads, helps the cactus retain water in the dry climate and can be extracted by boiling the pads. When mucilage is added to dirty water it binds to the dirt and the larger dirt particles settle out of the water due to the high molecular weight of the gum-like mucilage when it swells in water.
Alcantar’s research has shown that the mucilage can bind to and starve bacteria as well as form a complex with arsenic, a known carcinogen that occurs naturally in the soil or comes from industrial or agricultural pollution. Arsenic is removed when it binds to the natural sugars in the mucilage and the combination is drawn through a sand or membrane filter. The amount of arsenic removed depends on several variables, such as the source and pH values of the water to be treated.
Even trace amounts of arsenic can cause serious health problems when consumed over long periods of time. Alcantar and her team are also assessing whether the cactus mucilage can be as effective in removing other dangerous heavy metals, such as selenium, chromium and cadmium, from water. ” Text from USF NEWS.
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