Water pollution is a significant environmental issue with far-reaching impacts on society. It is not confined to local or regional boundaries and is exacerbated by climate change, leading to human health risks.
In dealing with such unprecedented risks to our water resources, what is needed is innovation – the kind of innovation embodied by the Water Research Group of the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management at the North-West University (NWU).
Prof Victor Wepener, an expert in ecological risk assessment, has taken up the challenge to find effective ways for biological monitoring – using artificial mussels.
“Artificial mussels are devices that can take up pollutants and give an indication of the levels of environmental exposure to these pollutants. We have adapted the mussels to be used in different South African aquatic environments and have placed them in major harbours across the country and in Namibia.”
Laboratory gives birth to artificial mussels
The artificial mussels are constructed in a laboratory and consist of a plastic tube that contains small glass beads and a jelly-like substance. “The gel is permeable, which makes it easy for metal pollutants to move through it and bind to the glass beads,” he says.
According to Prof Wepener, the research team has validated the artificial mussels for use in freshwater environments, focusing on specific problematic metals such platinum. A major project was completed in the Rustenburg area, where the artificial mussels were used to gauge the exposure of the aquatic environment to platinum.
Mussels point out problematic metals
“The manufactured mussel devices are placed in containers. These are put at a site about one metre below the water surface for a period of four to six weeks. They are then retrieved and taken back to the laboratory,” Prof Wepener says.
In the laboratory, researchers analyse the glass beads for different problematic metals such as cadmium and mercury, as well as for metals that occur naturally in marine environments, such as arsenic and manganese.
It took the team three to four months to complete this project, from the manufacturing of the mussels to their deployment at the sites, the exposure period and laboratory analysis.
Towards a sustainable future
Prof Wepener says it is imperative to raise awareness about the value of maintaining clean water sources, especially in Africa, where water pollution is fuelled by various challenges such as industrialisation, agricultural practices and the limited enforcement of environmental regulations.
The NWU’s Water Research Group is contributing to better water management through its research. Its work with artificial mussels provides researchers and resource managers with a monitoring tool that is relatively inexpensive and reduces the use of animals as biological indicators of metal pollution exposure.
The research also addresses at least four of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: good health and well-being (Goal 3), clean water and sanitation (Goal 6), life below water (Goal 14) and climate action (Goal 13).
Prof Victor Wepener shows where the artificial mussels are stored in the laboratory. He explains that his biological biomonitoring research approach helps him to determine whether the pollutants have influenced or will influence the environment.
