Using Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth Filtering to Disinfect Drinking Water
Friday, April 9th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
Diatomaceous earth is a naturally-occurring sedimentary rock. It is made of the fossils of diatoms which are a kind of algae. DE is available in different grades, and one of these is called food grade. When we think about food, we all think about something to eat. So what is there about a chalky white substance made from algae fossils that would be edible?
Well, to be truthful, it isn’t precisely eatable. Some folk believe that it’s meant to be mixed with water and used to help somebody better absorb the nutrients in the food they eat. It can also be mixed with animal feed to cut dung odour and reduce the number of flies. Of course, the main use of this higher grade of DE is as a filtering agent for the water we drink.
Diatomaceous earth filteration was first used during World War II when it was critical to filter water for the squaddies. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development labs ( ERDL ) came up with a filter that was both movable enough for army use and which cleaned the water and made it safe for human consumption. Following the war the material continued to be employed in filters for swimming pools.
You could wonder precisely what else these microscopically-small sea creatures that contribute their skeletons to DE have to do with human consumption. In addition to the filtering of water, this material is used to filter beer, wine, syrup, and sugar. 68% of the DE that is mined is used for water filtration. It is excellent for this purpose, as it can trap particles which will run thru other filtering mediums,eg paper and sand. Since both drinking water and the water in swimming pools is ingested by humans, keeping it as clean as possible is imperative.
We all need to be glad that someone had the foresight to use DE in municipal water filtration. When we think about 3rd world states where folk ingest poisoned drinking water and come down with serious illnesses, we will begin to appreciate what these filters do for us. DE is considered to be the grass of the sea, because it is eaten by ocean creatures much as land animals eat grass. There is also the maximum amount of it available as there is grass, so it is a replenish-able resource that we don’t have to fret about using up.
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