Sunday 30 January 2011

Nano technology. Is there anything in it for ponds?

Nano Technology is real innovation. It has already opened up many new porducts, with clear benefits in many different areas of our lives.

Nano Technology operates at a truly minute level - which gives engineers both a challenge, but also, because of its incredibly minute scale, is able to offer improvements to our lives and products by the virtue of how things behave at the nano-level.

What is Nano Technology?

The Nano of 'Nano Technology' relates to a nanometer. A millimetre is one thousanth of a metre. A nanometer is a billionth of a metre. If you were to stare and watch your fingernails grow, then each day they will grow one nanometer. Nano technology applies engineering solutions at that minute scale - but to great effect.

Nano Technology in action, in your pond or back garden.

Have you ever observed how water beads and simply runs off the leaf of a lotus (tropical lily) or of a leaf of Lady's Mantle? The water runs off (in fact - glue will not stick and simply run off) because of the microscopic (nano-scopic!) structure of the surface of each leaf.

This means that dirt, and other natural substances that might stick to the leaf and stop it from photosynthesising - especially having pushed its way up through a muddy pond, will be simply fall away - leaving the leaf completely clean.

How can we apply this to our pond?

Textile and fabric manufacturers have now mastered how to create the same nano-structures and the same self-cleaning performance as found in the lotus lily leaf. This is has already been applied to the manufacture of pet beds, leads, and clothing, preventing them from developing that 'pet smell' - as the natural animal oils do not adhere to the material, so the dirt-loving bacteria that create the smell are not attracted to take up residence on pet beds or pet clothing.

Extensions for the pond market?

One of the pond keeper's biggest problems is blanket weed or string algae.

It sticks to all pond surfaces, whether that is a pond liner, or even a viewing window cut into the wall of a koi pond (or Sea Life Centre). If these surfaces were able to be treated with a nano-coating bonded at the point of manufacture, then blanketweed and other pond algae would not be able to gain a hold and grow - making it easy to control and clear from a pond. Because nano-technology is about the physical structure of a surface, without the use of any harsh chemicals, it suggests such a solution would be ideal as a pond-safe remedy for pond algae without the use of chemicals. 

No comments:

Post a Comment