The catfish, also known as suckermouths, are native to South America but have spread around the world. Native species are outcompeted and eaten by freshwater invaders. The pests can be used to help filter ceramics industry wastewater.
16 billion square meters of ceramic tile is produced annually. Manufacturing facilities use a lot of water, and a biological cleaning system could allow reuse instead of draining it.
The mix of iron and salt works as a coagulant, stabilizing tiny bits of waste compounds so they can be strained out. The scientists found that the process reduced an indicator of organic materials in the water by 80%. According to the researchers, their fish mix is less toxic than other coagulants, which makes it less attractive to some manufacturers.
Most of the time ceramic waste is left to dry in the sun, and later the mud is used as fill material. The water resource is lost because people don't reuse the water because of fears of toxicity from currently available chemical coagulants.
The mixture is easy to prepare, but it might be hard to get enough biomass for industrial use. To scale up, wild devilfish may need to be farmed.
Eileen De Guire is the technical content and communications director at the American Ceramic Society. Taking advantage of an Invasive Species seems to be a creative way to solve a waste problem.
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