LAKE WATER INITIATIVES
Grant boosts projects
University of Windsor researchers will use tomato plant roots, iron filings and sawdust in an upcoming pilot project to study filtering methods for removing phosphorus from Lake Erie water. Bulent Mutus, a professor emeritus in chemistry and biochemistry, along with masters’ student David Ure, shared details of the project Wednesday on campus.
Both the nutrient biofilter testing at Lebo Creek Research Wetlands near Leamington and a separate development of an outdoor classroom at Holiday Beach Conservation Area were made possible by a $50,000 grant from the University of Windsor’s Alumni Association. “This is a celebration of an important community partnership between the faculty of science, the University of Windsor and the Essex Region Conservation Foundation,” said Douglas Kneale, the university’s interim president. With the aid of a slide presentation, Mutus explained how three biofilters have been installed at Lebo Creek Research Wetlands with a goal of determining what material best filters and removes phosphate from the wetlands’ water before it drains into rivers and lakes.
“Everybody knows about algal blooms (on Lake Erie),” Mutus said. “Is it farms, is it a burgeoning population, is it sewage? It’s a combination of everything and the problem is here. This project will try to address this at the point source.” Ure explained how testing done at another University of Windsor biofilter in the Bruce Peninsula has shown up to a 71 per cent success rate in removing phosphates using tomato-plant roots as the filter. Ironically, Mutus said the university team is having difficulty obtaining tomato roots for their study, despite the proliferation of greenhouses growing the fruit in Leamington.
Iron filings and modified sawdust have also shown promise as a means of filtering and removing phosphates.