Oiling out pollutants

14/08/1995
Down To Earth

When oil seeps into water supplies, it is more of a problem than a solution. But a group of American scientists think otherwise. John Hunter and John Cary of the US Department of Agriculture at Fort Collins, Colorado, intend using vegetable oil to help remove nitrate pollution from wells, usually caused by the use of fertilisers, animal manures and water treatment systems.

They believe that corn and soyabeen oils provide the denitrifying bacteria living at the bottom of the wells with a rich source of carbon. This extra food stimulates the bacteria to grow and multiply and in the process they break down the nitrate in the contaminated water, turning it into nitrogen which is soluble in water.

Though the presence of nitrates in groundwater is not generally considered to be a health threat, pregnant women w 'ho consume such water may give birth to infants with blue baby syndrome - a condition where presence of nitrates prevent the binding of oxygen molecules to the child's haemoglobin in blood cells.

Hunter and Cary say that their nitrate guzzling bacteria have exhibited the capacity to reduce nitrate concentration from 180 parts per million to 2 to 3 parts per million in pilot experiments. They intend to carry out large scale field trials and also plan to examine if vegetable oil can break down organic solvents, such as petrol and diesel.

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