Home Green Tech Water Purifiers

Prickly Pear Cactus Mucilage Removes Bacteria and Dirt from Water, Acting as Purifier

By
Ovidiu Sandru
924
28

Low tech methods have sometimes prevailed over the latest technologies, simply because they had been forgotten for decades or had been buried somewhere in a lost civilization. But some of them seem to be effective nowadays.

It is the case of the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica), which the 19th century Mexican communities used as a water purifier. Now, the scientists from the Univeristy of South Florida in Tampa, rediscovered the miraculous effects this cactus has on dirty water using scientific methods and microscope analysis.

Norma Alcantar and her colleagues extracted the cactus’s mucilage – the thick gum that the plant uses to store water, and mixed it with water to which they had added dirt (sediments and bacteria – Bacillus cereus).

To their surprise, the mucilage acted as a flocullant, joining the sediment particles and the bacteria which then dropped to the bottom of the water smples. 98 percent of the bacteria had been removed from the water, which is just amazing.

Householders in the developing world could boil a slice of cactus to release the mucilage and add it to water in need of purification, says Alcantar. “The cactus’s prevalence, affordability and cultural acceptance make it an attractive natural material for water purification technologies.”

Also read: This Device Extends Your Phone's Battery Lifespan Like Nothing Else. 5% Discount Code: GREENOPT

Maybe this isn’t a panacea-solution for water purification issues around the globe, although the cactus grows in many places, but knowing about it could save many people’s lives and could eventually provide industrial harvesting for cheap purification of water in developing countries. Furthermore, they can save a lot of energy with other electricity-consuming water purifiers.

(Visited 1,113 times, 1 visits today)

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

28 COMMENTS

  2. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  3. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  4. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  5. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  6. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  7. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  8. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  9. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  10. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  11. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  12. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  13. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  14. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  15. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  16. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  17. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  18. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  19. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  20. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  21. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  22. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  23. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  24. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  25. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  26. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  27. Excellent. Cactus(Opuntia) is a care-free growth plant besides a CAM Plant. It has multiple uses as input for biofuel and biogas production. Scientists can do research in identifying the ingredients present in Cactus thathave these water cleaning and synthesize them.
    Dr.A.Jagadeesh  Nellore(AP),India

  28. Hi,
    Moringa oleifera seeds are used in Africa to clean water for drinking purpose. Sediments impurities and kalso bad bacterias. Moringa grows in many tropical countries and is a superfood for humans also and can save lives. Google this plant to see its multiple benefits.
    RS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.