(561d) International Multidisciplinary Efforts in the Development of a Sustainable Green Technology for the Removal of Contaminants in Drinking Water

The objectives of this project are to develop a water purification system based on an economically viable "green technology" and investigate its applicability to a rural community in Mexico. The area of study is the rural community of Temamatla in central Mexico. Its location (25mi/40 km southeast of Mexico City) is critical for this study owing to its proximity to volcanic soils where the concentration of heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, and antimony in local water supplies are higher than recommended values. The goals are to produce an economically feasible method of water purification using cactus mucilage and silicate arrays for low-income inhabitants of rural communities that are sensitive to existing economic, social, and cultural patterns. This project transcends disciplinary and national boundaries as it connects the efforts of chemical engineers, geologists, anthropologists, physicists, and policy makers from the United States and Mexico. The expansiveness of this project necessitates a seamless joining of the efforts between investigators from different disciplines at the University of South Florida (USF), two leading Mexican public universities: National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM), and the National Institute of Ecology (INE) in Mexico. The results of successful collaboration have provided the ability to direct the focus of the project toward goals that are not only achievable but will also have broad implications. A study conducted by USF Anthropologists concluded that a culturally sensitive solution to purifying water would be an in-home filter. As a result, the goals of the project were reworked to include the design of a device consisting of cactus mucilage embedded in a silica matrix. Also, USF Geologists completed a broad study of the arsenic content in the drinking water from five different Mexican communities leading to the discovery of levels far above the recommended limit in Temamatla. As such, the focus of the project was narrowed to this town. The success of this intense international multidisciplinary collaboration will promote mutual opportunities and infrastructure for research, education, training, networking, future partnerships, and most importantly, the proposed technology will improve current water-related issues and problems in areas of extreme need.