Kidneys filter impurities: human

1 of 3 Human kidneys / Roxbury-de / License

Kidneys of humans filter impurities by use of a dual membrane system.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

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Biomimetic Application Ideas

Providing clean water

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[Collapse all sections] Summary

"Using a system based on the human body's kidneys - the ultimate in water recycling technology - Singapore and Orange County, CA have developed schemes that will use a dual membrane process to recycle domestic waste water (sewage) to levels that approach the quality of distilled water. Like the kidney, these recycling plants use two membranes, one with larger holes to remove micro-organisms such as protozoa and bacteria that cause infection, while the second separates salt from water." (Courtesy of the Biomimicry Guild)

About the inspiring organism

human
Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758
[man]

IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern

Some organism data provided by: ITIS: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Providing clean water.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Water treatment

Aquaporin membrane technology - Water filtration membranes

Experts

Greg Leslie

UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, University of New South Wales

Kidneys filter impurities: human

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