Water is needed not only for drinking, but also cooking, cleaning, and sanitizing. But it might not be clean or filtered because of many pollutants present in water. Fortunately, there is an interesting idea for helping filter and clean available water supplies.
Yes, in a pinch banana peels can be used to filter water. Banana peels contain sulfur, nitrogen, carboxylic acid and other atoms that function pretty much the same way magnets do in terms of attracting heavy metals. These molecules are not affected human health. This is great news since heavy metals are one of the biggest problems in terms of water contamination. Some of these metals that can be found in unpurified water include lead, copper, mercury, and iron. These are lethal to humans, building up slowly in our bodies and eventually leading to brain and nervous system damage. Heavy metals in water are generally positively charged and the carboxylic acid ions in the banana peels become negatively charged. The two compounds are drawn towards each other just like with a magnet.
The researchers found that minced banana peel could quickly remove lead and copper from river water as well as, or better than, many other materials. A purification apparatus made of banana peels can be used up to 11 times without losing its metal-binding properties, they note. The team adds that banana peels are very attractive as water purifiers because of their low cost and because they don’t have to be chemically modified in order to work.
Author: Dr. Renuka Verma
