Water Pollution

Squaxin Island Tribe Further Testing Mushrooms as Water Quality Solution

  • Post author:
  • Post category:News

Joe Puhn, resource technician for the Squaxin Island Tribe, takes a water sample during an experiment to test if mushrooms can remove pollutants.

ALLYN — Mushrooms might help treat one of the most widespread causes of water pollution — fecal bacteria from human and livestock waste in stormwater runoff. And if it works, the system can be used to protect the rich shellfish heritage of Puget Sound.

The Squaxin Island Tribe is teaming up with Mason Conservation District and Fungi Perfecti to test how well the vegetative growth (mycelia) of fungi filters fecal coliform bacteria out of running water.

“Several field studies have demonstrated that mushroom mycelia can capture and remove bacteria in running water,” said John Konovsky, environmental program manager for the Squaxin Island Tribe. “The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe worked with Battelle Labratories on a large treatment system and found that fungi mycelia can reduce bacteria concentrations. We’re trying to figure out just how well it works on a smaller scale.”
(more…)

Continue ReadingSquaxin Island Tribe Further Testing Mushrooms as Water Quality Solution

Tulalip Tribes engineer wetlands to treat stormwater

TULALIP – Stormwater runoff from the parking lots and playfield at Tulalip Elementary runs directly into Tulalip Bay. Traveling through conventional drains and pipes, at times seeping over the sidewalk onto Totem Beach Road, the water potentially picks up and carries pollutants.

At the nearby Boys and Girls Club, the lack of drainage results in a parking lot pond when it rains.

As an alternative to conventional stormwater detention methods, the Tulalip Tribes are turning to low impact development (LID) to improve water quality and fix several drainage problems. The tribes’ Natural Resources Department is engineering wetlands to absorb stormwater and filter out pollutants before it drains into the bay. (more…)

Continue ReadingTulalip Tribes engineer wetlands to treat stormwater

Hands-On Experiences Teach Importance of Preserving Watershed

DUNGENESS BAY (June 13, 2008) – Shelby Schleve scrunched up her nose at the butter clams lying open on the picnic table, their slimy innards exposed. But it didn’t take long for the Sequim Middle School eighth-grader to start poking at the clam’s digestive system for a closer look.

“We’re learning there’s some pretty nasty stuff in the watershed,” she said, after hearing about fecal coliform bacteria from animal and human waste, a tell-tale sign of water pollution.

(more…)

Continue ReadingHands-On Experiences Teach Importance of Preserving Watershed