Water-purifying process developed
Finding an answer for how to clean oil out of water turned out to be as easy as thinking in terms of soft drinks.
Andy Hong, a civil and environmental engineering professor, built a device that can clean a quart of oil-contaminated water by using pressurized ozone gas bubbles. The process of applying pressure followed by depressurization, for which Hong has a patent pending, fills the polluted water with bubbles and creates a reaction similar to opening a soda can too quickly, Hong said. The process separates the oil from the water through sand filtration.