JAQUELINE DELIA/RUSH / CAMERA PRESS

Oyster shells are to clean up waste water in Oshima, Japan. ‘Oyster shells harbour large numbers of anaerobic and aerobic microbes on their surfaces. Dirty water is food for these microbes,’ explains Toyokuni Asahina, one of the designers of the wastewater plant. Around 250 tonnes of shells will be used annually to form layers in filtration tanks where the oyster-shell microbes can feast on kitchen, bath and laundry water from 265 households.

*_New Scientist_ Vol 161 No 2169*

This article is from the April 1999 issue of New Internationalist.

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