Artificial islands help clean stormwater

Floating islands in a Wisconsin stormwater retention pond are helping remove pollutants from stormwater. The article “Artificial Islands Cleanse Pollutants From Stormwater,” describes how the floating islands are built and function. The article — part of the column The Works, which focuses “on infrastructure in a rapidly urbanizing world” — comes from Next City, a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire social, economic and environmental change through journalism and events around the world.

“The islands themselves are made up of two layers of recycled PET plastic, the kind that makes up soda and water bottles, wrapped in coconut husks to prevent erosion. The plastic has been shredded and re-tooled to resemble the texture of a pot-scrubber, providing ample surface for microbes,” the article states.

Read the full article on the Next City website.