Environmental News Network highlights the work of the University of Utah environmental engineering department.  They have developed a new technology that makes removing oil from water a much simpler and more economical process.  Ozone gas is altered to make tiny bubbles which attach themselves to the oil, which can then be removed with a sand filter.  Until now, oil remediation techniques could only remove most of the oil from water, now the water can be made completely pure.

This technology will have numerous applications.  For example, the water used in oil drilling can be treated and used for irrigation in dry oil regions where water is scarce.  Other applications include treating runoff, oil spills, contaminated groundwater, polluted wastewater, and contaminated soil.  This is especially important for cleaning up harmful oil-based contaminants, such as MTBE, a gasoline additive, PCBs, from electrical transformers, and PAHs, also from fuel.  Not only does the process remove oil, it also makes other contaminants more susceptible to biodegradation.