Transcript:
In Pinecrest, Florida, three large plastic mats float on a canal, each covered in flowers like irises, lilies, and marigolds, with their roots dangling in the water.
Jazmin Locke-Rodriguez of Florida International University is studying how these floating gardens can help clean polluted water.
Locke-Rodriguez: “Seeing these beautiful blooms and knowing that they’re also cleaning the water at the same time is incredibly exciting and motivating.”
As the flowers grow, they absorb nitrogen and phosphorus through their roots.
These nutrients are found in fertilizer. During heavy rain, they can wash off farm fields and accumulate in the water, causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen.
Locke-Rodriguez: “We’ve actually seen, in recent years, some pretty serious fish kills that have caused thousands of fish to float to the surface because of the lack of oxygen in the waterways.”
And the problem is expected to get worse as climate change causes stronger storms.
Locke-Rodriguez’s research shows that the floating flower mats work in the lab. So now her team is studying how much pollution they can remove in real waterways.
She says communities could sell the flowers to help cover the cost of the floating gardens.
So one day soon, flowers could be a solution to pollution.
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
