Team:BNDS China/Description
Description
What is the area we are researching?
The area we are researching is to create a bacterial hard water softener. Water hardness is a global problem which affects both the cost of living and environmental impact of a household. A study done by New Mexico State University showed that 29% more energy was used by gas heaters and 21% more with electric heaters run on hard water. The Association Français pour l’Etude des Eaux found soap and detergent use more than doubled in hard water areas.
Hard water also has an effect on the fabric life, which is the longevity of clothes. A study carried out in a Chicago YMCA laundry, found that softening the water supply increased the life of frequently washed household items such as sheets, pillow slips and bath towels by 20-40%.
As a team of high school students hoping to become scientists, we want to work on finding a solution to this problem. Despite the bacterial hard water softener that we are trying to create, there are also other kinds of water softener, such as Ion-exchange resin devices. However, all of those water softeners are all chemical methods that demand high prices. People so far have never tried to solve this problem in a biological way, which is what we are trying to do.
Our strategy is to create a biological hard water softener by using the cDNA of a calcium channel protein, where calcium ions flux are able to flow into the cell membrane.
Our aim is to make progress towards solving the problem of water hardness so families can reduce their energy and soap consumption.
What is the importance of our research?
Our research is important for two reasons. First and foremost, there is still no appropriate solutions for the global issue of water hardness and secondly, if we find a scalable solution it has the potential to have a positive impact on many lives as well as contribute to reducing carbon emissions by increasing the efficiency of energy consumption.
In hard water areas calcium precipitates keep forming on containers. The calcium precipitates on the containers make them hard to open and hard to wash. Though the little amount of calcium in hard water cannot be a major cause of a certain disease, it can cause kidney stones and dehydration. Studies show that softened water is preferable to hard water, since it is associated with a lower risk for recurrence of kidney stones.
Though the calcium precipitates on containers are able to be eliminated by using chemical solutions, this method failed to solve the problem thoroughly because water is still hard after cleaning the container. However, it is true that setting up an ion exchange water system will effectively soften hard water. Unfortunately, a great ion exchange filter demands a price of more than a hundred dollars, which is not affordable for every family. On the contrary, our bacteria filters will have a lower price.
In the United States, 85% people are affected by water hardness, but only 30% of them are able to afford a water softener. (The graph below shows the water hardness percentage in the USA.)
As for the United Kingdom, about 60% water supply is considered "hard". Much more severely, nearly all water supply in China, which is our home country, have the problem of water hardness. All of my friends who live in Beijing, including me, have the experience of finding calcium precipitates on our mugs.
Another important aspect of our project is that it is mainly conducted by high school students. For most of our team, this project is their first time doing such significant scientific research, although some of us have more experience. Our project is going great despite the financial requirements. Therefore, your help will encourage us a lot.
