Japanese Tap Water Purification

Luke Thompson

Blog #11

As Japan continues the long process of recovery following last month's earthquake disaster, government officials are taking every possible measure to protect resident's from nuclear radiation exposure. After dangerous levels of radioactive iodine-131 were found at a water purification plant that feeds Tokyo's tap water supplies, officials immediately and significantly raised water purification standards.

In order to quell public fear over the news, the Japanese government turned their attention to an effective filtration technology based on charcoal made from coconut-shells. Treatment plants have rushed to order shipments of granulated charcoal at four times the normal rate as prices for the substance rise well beyond normal.

One supplier of activated charcoal, Kuraray Co., usually ships around 25,000 tons the product per year. Recently, however, the company has been receiving multiple orders for "hundreds of tons" every day.

Not only has the news of radiation in Tokyo effected the city itself, but other Japanese and even Chinese cities are drastically increasing their efforts to avoid any contaminants in their own public water systems. Private restaurants are also purchasing the substance in hopes of reassuring customers that the water they use in food preparation is safe to consume.

One major advantage to modern technology is its ability to self-medicate. When one form of technology creates a problem, there usually exists an antidote that has been developed along the way. This crisis shows that the development of solutions to possible complications should go hand-in-hand with the implementation of new technology.