Environmental biotechnology unlocks the value in polluted waters

Abstract

Several dead flamingos were found on site when work began on an algal ponding system to cope with effluent at Mossop Western Leathers co, near Wellington. Shortly after the system was commissioned, a sizable flock of flamingos occupied the ponds – an eloquent indicator of a healthy and naturally functioning saline aquatic ecosystem. The flamingo was immediately adopted by Rose’s group as its emblem and appears on the cover of each of the 12 parts of the study report: Salinity , Sanitation and Sustainability. Linking two of South Africa’s major water pollution problems, a unique research programme proves the old adage “Where there’s muck there’ s brass”, using living systems to clean up sewage and industrially polluted waters, producing sweet water and marketable by-products in the process. Catherine Kno x spoke to Peter Rose who heads the group that engineered this breakthrough in the quest for sustainable development.

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