The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is treated with ‘nanobubbles’. What are they and how do they work? |
As the United States approaches 250th birthday celebrations on July 4, Washington DC’s monuments, statues and fountains are being prepared to put on a show.
However, renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool haven’t gone to plan.
Soon after the renovations were complete, an algal bloom turned the pool’s water a slimy green. Officials are in a hurry to address the issue and, among other treatments, deployed ozone nanobubble technology to clean the water.
But what are nanobubbles and why would they be used to address an algal bloom?
What are nanobubbles?
Nanobubbles, also known as ultrafine bubbles, are gas-filled bubbles with diameters typically around 100 nanometres. That makes each nanobubble about one thousandth of the thickness of a human hair.
When deployed with specialised equipment that injects gases like air, ozone or oxygen into water, nanobubbles occur in enormous numbers – typically around 10 billion nanobubbles for each teaspoon of water. Despite their huge numbers, solutions of nanobubbles look and feel just like water.
Looking at a glass of water with nanobubbles, you would not know they’re there. Yet they have remarkable properties that are used in a number of technologies, including water treatment.
Nanobubbles are surprisingly stable
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