Tracking Water Pollution
Take a sample from almost any major body of water, and you’re likely to find microplastics, or bits of plastic pollution less than 5 mm long. Many experts agree that microplastics are a cause for concern, as they may harm marine life or taint our fish and water supplies. But little is known about them beyond their prevalence—in an August report, the World Health Organization said getting more microplastics data is an “urgent concern.” That’s where the Microplastics-Sensing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle comes in. Designed jointly by Draper and Sprout working alongside the Environmental Protection Agency, the raylike drone is meant to swim around a body of water, collecting and analyzing samples for their microplastics content. Draper project lead Lou Kratchman says that data can be a jumping-off point for more advanced microplastics research. “We need something that’s comparable to the world Air Quality Index,” he says. “Kind of a global weather map that, in real time, we can look and see how the microplastics situation is changing.” While the drone is still a concept, a simpler prototype is already being successfully used in Hawaii. —Alex Fitzpatrick
