Mobile water treatment machine is tested to fight red tide

SARASOTA, Fla. — In the fight against red tide, Mote Marine scientists are

SARASOTA, Fla. — In the fight against red tide, Mote Marine scientists are testing a machine that uses ozone technology to clean water.

The OZONIX Mobile Water Treatment Unit has already been used to treat water used for fracking in oil mining and has proven successful in removing red tide cells from seawater.

Now the treated water is being tested on shrimp and clams to make sure the machine can rid water of harmful algae while keeping marine life safe. And scientists say the tests are promising.

"After the experiments, we had over the last couple of weeks out at our city island campus with concentrations of red tide in the millions of cells and here with the living organisms, I would say this is a very very high potential technology," said Michael Crosby, MOTE president and CEO.

This project is one of two dozen that MOTE is testing to help stop the spread of red tide. This approach is part of the Florida Red Tide Mitigation & Technology Development Initiative which involves not only testing a strategy's ability to control red tide, but also its impact on the environment.

Mote says with approval this machine could be used to fight red tide in the next year.

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Mobile water treatment machine is tested to fight red tide