ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — An accomplished NOAA scientist is working to test and help roll out a technology that could be the answer to Florida's water woes.
- Process is called Nano Bubble Ozone Technology
- Bubbles can implode underwater, release ozone, clean out algae
- MORE: Red Tide previous stories, video, links, maps and more
It's called Nano Bubble Ozone Technology and is a process of bringing tiny bubbles and ozone together to kill algae and destroy the harmful toxins.
"We want to take the good parts of both of them and put them together to get a very unique process of killing algea on a large scale," explained NOAA scientist Dr. Peter Moeller.
Ozone is known to kill bacteria and algae, but it's also toxic. Moeller says by putting it into a nano bubble that doesn't come to the surface, the bubbles can implode underwater and release the ozone, cleaning out the algae.
"The ozone is degraded into oxygen gas and hydroxi-radicles. The radicles react immediately, leaving only oxygen in the water," he explained.
While the process involves bubbles thinner than your fingernail, Moeller says they pack a big punch, and attack both blue-green algae and the toxin that causes red tide without affecting marine life.
"If everything continues going the way it is, you will see these instruments out certainly before the next blooms next year," he said.