Fruit peels can help water filtration: Research

A research team in the National University of Singapore (NUS), led by an Indian-origin scientist, has found that fruit peels can be used for water purification, something that can help millions of people across the world without access to clean drinking water.

The team, led by Ramakrishna Mallampati, found that tomato and apple peels act like a sponge in polluted water and help in "vastly reducing levels of heavy metals, pesticides and dyes", the Straits Times reported Thursday.

The two-year study showed that the peel of eight tomatoes can remove heavy metal ions such as lead from a litre of water within a period of one hour.

The findings can help nearly 800 million people without access to clean water to get safer drinking water at a low cost.

According to Mallampati, an alumnus of India's University of Pune, the results can help a vast number of people living in remote areas without access to water purification devices and people living in villages with groundwater contaminated by industrial pollution.

Mallampati, a researcher in material chemistry, is doing his Ph.D in the NUS on "synthesis and characterisation of novel materials for potential applications including water treatment and catalysis".