Green Chemistry

Water and its Treatment

Mark Anthony Benvenuto, Heinz Plaumann, Mark Anthony Benvenuto, Heinz Plaumann

• Verlag: De Gruyter
• Jahr: 2021
• ISBN:
  9783110598063
• Auflage: 1
• Thema: Biological Sciences
• Thema: Environmental Science

The "greening" of industry processes, i.e. making them more sustainable, is a popular and often lucrative trend in Chemical Engineering. The 7 th volume of Green Chemical Processing considers the role of water in sustainable chemistry and highlights innovations in the field of water treatment. The American Chemical Society's 12 Principles of Green Chemistry are woven throughout this text as well as the series to which this book belongs.

Chapter 1 Green chemistry and water: an introduction

Mark A. Benvenuto

Fellow, American Chemical Society, Department of Chemistry, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, USA

Heinz Plaumann

Wayne State University, Detroit, USA

Keywords: Water purity, pollution, global water use,

1.1 Water and its potential

Throughout history, people have settled near water, whether it was an ocean shore, or some inland sea, or a river. For all that time, perhaps obviously, water has been needed by humans and their domesticated animals to drink. For almost all that time, water has been used as a source of food – fish, shellfish, and other marine animals, to name just a few. Also, water has been used for energy for centuries – in the form of waterwheels and dams. One might also argue that the wind over water, which can be produced by changes in water temperature, has been the means by which sailing ships have moved for millennia. In short, water has been critical to the advancement of humankind in many ways.

Water has become more visible as a global issue for several decades now, as the population of our planet expands, and the water sources available for use are subjected to increased stresses. This causes political tensions, and is reported and discussed in the popular press, such as those between the United States and Mexico, since virtually all of the Colorado River is diverted through damming projects, and none makes it into Mexican territory. Likewise, the death of the Aral Sea through the policies of the defunct Soviet Union has become an international problem for the newly independent nations of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that now border its area [1]. Regrettably, some nations may even go to war over the ownership and use of water, such as Turkey, Syria, and Iraq over the Euphrates and Tigris, with the damming of the latter via the Ilisu Dam [2]. Michael Denton states within his work, The Wonder of Water, “Within the range of temperatures and atmospheric conditions that exist on the Earth’s surface, only water exists as solid, liquid and gas” [3, 4]. The range of physical states, and the characteristics of the material in them, can be argued is what makes the variety of animal and plant life on the Earth possible.

1.2 Water in our modern world

This book, Volume 7 in this open-ended series devoted to all aspects of green chemistry, includes a wide span of relevant contributors and topics ranging from global influencers to university and industrial contributors. Many within the general public think of water in terms of clean, potable, bottled water for drinking, such as in Figure 1.1, as well as that which comes from our household taps [5, 6]. But several of the chapters here present what can be considered new and intriguing looks at how water is used in some way most of us do not normally consider. From determining levels of water purity to measuring and examining the residues and pollutants found in water, our authors have looked closely at many aspects of water in our society.

Figure 1.1: Bottled water for consumer use.

Several of our chapters deal with water that is through some means connected to the Great Lakes, which form part of the boundary between Canada and the United States. These lakes, which were called “freshwater seas” by some of the earliest European explorers, are the world’s largest connected freshwater source. Chapters included here discuss international collaborations between the two nations, and the cycling of a site from an industrial concern back to a green field.

Our authors have also contributed chapters that discuss water and new technologies, as well as some older, established ones. The idea of green roofs in an urban environment is treated, which spotlights an excellent use of rain water that traditionally has just been flushed away in storm sewers in residential or commercial zones in cities and towns, as shown in Figure 1.2, being considered more of a nuisance than a resource.

Figure 1.2: Residential storm drain.

Additionally, the topic of microplastics in freshwater and saltwater has become of interest in the past decade, as it is realized that such materials are not treated or removed by traditional water treatment plants. The idea of how water supplies are handled in an arid environment is also discussed, in the curiously and intriguingly titled chapter, “Swimming in the desert.” As well, the removal of persistent, fluorinated pollutants is the focus of one of the chapters within.

The discussion, study, and regulation of water are now broad enough that no single volume can probably encompass all aspects of it. But we hope the chapters here give good insights into this most useful, life-supporting material.

References

[1]The Incredible Shrinking Aral Sea 1960 – 2014. Website. (Accessed 14 November 2020, as: brilliantmaps.com/aral-sea). →

[2]“War for Water? Syria, Iraq and Turkey Will Next Fight for Rivers, Report Says,” Newsweek. Website. (Accessed 14 November 2020, as: newsweek.com/war-water-syria-iraq-turkey-will-next-fight-rivers-rivers-report-says-1046349). →

[3]Denton, M.. “The Wonder of Water”, Discovery Institute Press, Seattle, Washington, 2017. P 17, 25, and references therein. →

[4]Ecolab Company NALCO Water. “The Nalco Water Handbook, Fourth Edition”, McGraw-Hill, 2018. →

[5]Benvenuto, M. A. “Industrial Chemistry”, De Gruyter, 2014, ISBN: 978-3-11-029589-4. →

[6]USEPA. “Safe Drinking Water Act: Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR)” at: https://www.epa.gov/safewater/consumer/pdf/hist.pdf (accessed 14 November 2020). →

Chapter 2 Establishment of a water collaborative for Metropolitan Detroit, MI, USA

John H. Hartig

Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and Visiting Scholar, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada

Timothy Dekker

LimnoTech, Ann Arbor, USA

Abstract

The Laurentian Great Lakes are the Earth’s greatest reserve of freshwater and a vital connector is the Detroit River. Over the past few centuries, the Detroit River region has been vital for commerce, industry, global shipping, and recreation and as such warrants special treatment in a monograph such as this. Not surprisingly, human population density and level of commercial and industrial development in the Detroit area resulted in many impacts on our waters. This chapter...