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2009-03-27 Home Front: Culture Wars

Spokane residents smuggle suds over green brands

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Posted by tu3031 2009-03-27 12:59|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 Phosphates are a peculiar problem. They are not harmful for people to drink, but they act as fertilizer for microorganisms. This means that swimming pools need more chlorine, ponds and lakes tend to have problems with algae

Ironically, a good alternative to using *any* dish washing detergent is a strange one: using "degassed" water.

"Detergent-free cleaning is being developed by researchers in Australia. Oil and grease can be washed away with nothing but pure water, they say.

Oily dirt does not normally dissolve in water. But Richard Pashley and colleagues at the Australian National University in Canberra have shown that water is much better at dispersing oily substances if any air dissolved in it is removed, in a process called degassing.

Water can be degassed cheaply and efficiently by pumping it through a porous membrane, the researchers say, and then sprayed on to surfaces and fabrics.

Normal water contains tiny nitrogen and oxygen bubbles. These accumulate on the surface of water-repellent, or hydrophobic, materials that are in contact with the water.

This layer of gas molecules causes larger bubbles to form between hydrophobic surfaces. And the surface tension of any bubble bridging two surfaces pulls the particles together.

In effect, air bubbles act like a glue that prevents oily substances from breaking up. This makes it harder for an oil droplet to detach from a greasy stain and become dispersed in water. But if the tiny bubbles are removed, that happens more easily.

Conventional detergents surround grease droplets with a layer of detergent molecules, giving them a water-soluble coating.

The team removes gas from water samples using several cycles of freezing and vacuum pumping. But they say that "industrially, other methods may be more appropriate", such as passing the water through a membrane made from hydrophobic material, which would absorb dissolved gas.

Degassed water reabsorbs gases when exposed to the air, but the researchers say that this would happen so slowly that it would not harm the cleaning power of freshly degassed water sprayed on dirty material. In fact, as air seeps into the used water, it could cause dirt particles in the water to stick together, making them easy to filter out."

Posted by Anonymoose 2009-03-27 18:29|| 2009-03-27 18:29|| Front Page Top

#2 Damned good thing I know how to make lye soap. Imma gonna go into a dual buisiness. Selling incandescent light bulbs and Cascade on the Black Market. I'll make Gazillions!

Posted by Deacon Blues 2009-03-27 19:30|| 2009-03-27 19:30|| Front Page Top

#3 Soak the plates first in a bowl then rinse...

You'll clean the dishwasher filter out less too.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2009-03-27 19:40|| 2009-03-27 19:40|| Front Page Top

#4 FWIW I used to have a pool and from my junior scientist studies in dealing with "crisp and clear" pool water I learned a few things.

First off is that algae feeds on phosphates.
When you kill off algae, the dead algae becomes - phosphates. (bad)

Second, if not chlorinated properly, new algae eats dead algae (phosphates)and grows. (ugly)

Third, phosphates can be removed by using polymers to coagulate them and then trap them in the filter for backwashing later to fertilize the yard with. This result in using less chlorine. (good)

Now I also recall an ongoing study to use algae as a means to creating a bio-fuel in the form of algae farms and processing centers at the same site. A nice, easy and plentiful renewable energy source without using food crops as a source.

With that being said, I propose creating more phosphates, harvest them in waste water treatment plant and use them to accelerate the growth of algae for a renewable fuel source. Even the "greenies" in Spokane should be able to feel better about the use of phosphates in this manner.

I know I feel better now that I've solved their problem and helped out with the energy issues as well. And hopefully helped you pool owners with keeping your pool "crisp and clear"

Posted by kilowattkid 2009-03-27 20:21|| 2009-03-27 20:21|| Front Page Top

#5 Consumer Reports a couple years back found the 'new' greener washing machine not only failed to clean as well as the previous non-green machines they actually made the wash dirtier in some cases. One of those unique instances that it would be more effective to repair rather than replace the old machine.

Posted by Procopius2k 2009-03-27 21:10|| 2009-03-27 21:10|| Front Page Top

#6 The ban is being phased in, starting with Spokane County. "It's nice to be on the cutting edge," Spokane resident Ken Beck, an opponent of the ban, said sarcastically.

And how stupid was that? Shopping in Idaho from Spokane is almost like driving across town. Good for Idaho though.

Posted by Gluting Fillmore6653 2009-03-27 22:55|| 2009-03-27 22:55|| Front Page Top

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