A method for separating water from oil is being developed by researchers from Newcastle University in Singapore.

Calling the method as effective as commercially available synthetic microfiltration membranes, the researchers examined the flow of oily water through a sand bed in a cross-flow filtration unit in a Newcastle lab.

Source: ResearchSEA

The researchers suggest that the natural material is preferred to other oil containment solutions featuring synthetic filtration materials because sand has much lower embodied energy — in other words, the sum of all the energy used to create any goods or services, considered as if that energy was built into or "embodied" in the product itself.

The solution could potentially help avert environmental catastrophe, according to researchers, as accidental oil discharge into bodies of water can threaten the lives of both aquatic animals as well as land animals.

The study, The separation of oily water using low-cost natural materials: Review and development, appears in the journal Chemosphere.