To help the handicraft industry reduces contamination of water, Filipino scientists with the Department of Science and Technology's Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) is now embarking on a project to develop a technique dubbed as wastewater detoxification.

Chief for Environmental Division Dr. Christopher Silverio of ITDI is now leading a team to develop this technique called solar photocatalysis, which uses solar energy as primary catalyst in removing toxic dyes in water.

Silverio's team is using a non-toxic chemical called titanium oxide to help break down pollutants in the water.

Solar photocatalysis occurs when a small amount of light-absorbing material, which serves as the photocatalyst, reacts with pollutants without being destroyed itself.

Current photocatalysis technologies use ultraviolet, an electromagnetic light radiation largely given off by the sun.

What makes the Filipino scientists works with other is that the technology runs wastewater in a clear tube lined with titanium oxide. The tube is then exposed under the sun.

Moreover, the technology itself is exceptional since, it is inexpensive and can be applied in areas with wastewater. [via]