Biomimicry: 6 Examples of How Nature is Inspiring Water Filtration Innovation

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When we think of water filtration, we often picture energy-intensive processes, harsh chemicals, or complex machinery. But with the growing focus on sustainability across industries, researchers are taking a more eco-centric approach to water treatment, drawing inspiration from a surprising source: nature.

Scientists and engineers believe that nature’s brilliant biological blueprints, refined over billions of years, may hold the solution to many modern water filtration challenges. As such, they are emulating the remarkable design principles found in natural systems to construct more breakthrough water filtration technologies. This approach is called biomimicry and has been the core of many technological marvels in medicine, automotive, architecture, and other fields.

While in their early stages, several nature-inspired water treatment innovations have sprouted up in several regions worldwide and are poised to revolutionize the clean water space. Here, we highlight a few of these biomimetic inventions and what you need to know about them.

What is Biomimicry in Water Filtration?

Biomimicry, or biomimetics, is the practice of deriving inspiration from nature’s time-tested designs, processes, and systems to solve water treatment challenges. This approach encourages scientists and engineers to study the natural world to understand and mimic—hence biomimicry—its highly efficient water filtration mechanisms to improve already-invented designs or develop new creations.

Biological systems have evolved over time to separate, filter, and transport water at the molecular level with minimal energy expenditure and immense precision. Realizing this, researchers are increasingly looking to the environment for technological inspiration. The goal is to copy nature’s ingenuity to develop more sustainable water treatment technologies that could solve the world’s water crisis.

Water Filtration Innovations Inspired by Nature

Biomimicry has led to several groundbreaking inventions and innovations in water filtration. Here’s an in-depth look at some of the most remarkable ones.

Aquaporin Membranes

Aquaporins (AQPs) are proteins that serve as “water channels” in cell membranes. Essentially, they help water move in and out of cells while excluding most other molecules. Billions of years of evolution have made these proteins incredibly efficient and highly selective, inspiring Danish company Aquaporin to develop membranes that utilize the proteins for water filtration.

Aquaporin membrane filters incorporate a layer of aquaporins to allow water molecules to pass through the filter rapidly and selectively while blocking contaminants. These membranes work particularly well for desalination (removing salt from seawater) and wastewater treatment. Supposedly, the natural makeup of aquaporins makes the filtration process more efficient than traditional methods and helps ensure high water purity and quality.

Manta Ray-Inspired Filters

Manta rays aren’t only known for their massive wingspan and odd shape but also their unique filter-feeding mechanism. These aquatic animals swim with their mouths open and use their gill plates to filter plankton to feed on. The excess water is then ejected through their gills. It’s a fascinating feeding technique that engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were able to translate into filters designed to eliminate water pollutants.

Manta ray-inspired filters create small vortices (like mini tornadoes) in the water to trap particles while letting through water molecules. As published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), the new design consists of a pipe with two flat panels glued together at the edges. It features 3D-printed structures resembling the grooved plates in a manta ray’s mouth.

As water is pumped through the filter, the increased speed causes whirlpools between the plates. This swirling motion helps capture particles, creating a crossflow filtration system that maintains high water flow while keeping out unwanted pollutants. This design improves filtration efficiency and reduces the chances of clogging, making it an innovative solution for industrial and residential water treatment.

Fish Gill-Inspired Membranes

Have you ever wondered how fish can breathe underwater and you can’t? One word: gills—though breathing isn’t their only purpose. Most fish also use their gills to remove unwanted substances from vast volumes of water without clogging their oral filters. Inspired by this, researchers developed a clog-free filtration device with a similar mechanism, according to Khalifa University.

As published in scientific reports, this new biomimetic on-chip filtration device is designed to banish microplastics and oil droplets from wastewater without using chemicals. To achieve this, the engineers used 3D-printed structures that mirror the shape and surface area of fish gills. The filter emulates the natural filtering process of the gills, which trap food particles while allowing water to flow through. By printing gill raker-shaped structures directly onto the membrane surface, the researchers created a system that manipulates water flow to prevent clogging.

During tests with oily water and wastewater containing microplastics, the unique design successfully redirected contaminants away from the membrane, ensuring that only clean water passed through.

Oysters

We all think of oysters as culinary delicacies or sources of beautiful pearls. More than that, they are excellent water filters. “Because oysters feed by filtering algae from the water, they function as a natural filter and improve water overloaded with nutrients,” NOAA Fisheries explains. Even more mind-blowing: a single adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water daily.

While essential for plants and animals, too much nitrogen in water—often from fertilizer runoff and septic tanks—can fuel excessive algae growth, blocking sunlight and depleting oxygen levels when they decompose. According to One Earth, oysters incorporate excess nitrogen directly into their shells and tissues as they grow. They then filter pollutants by consuming them or packaging them into tiny, harmless deposits that settle on the sea floor.

Although oyster-inspired water filtration technology hasn’t been (widely) implemented yet, scientists see enormous potential in mimicking these marine creatures’ natural filtration processes. This could be a game-changing approach to water purification, potentially offering more sustainable and energy-efficient water filtration methods than traditional techniques.

Mangrove-Inspired Filters

Here’s a fun fact about mangroves that might surprise you: they are facultative halophytes, meaning they can filter salt from their saline environments (mainly coastal areas and estuaries in tropical and subtropical regions).

Most plants would die in saltwater, but mangroves have evolved specialized root membranes that filter salt and other pollutants from surrounding seawater before absorbing the water. The American Museum of Natural History says many mangrove species survive by filtering up to 90% of the sodium found in seawater as it enters their roots—a process called “selective ion transport.”

This extraordinary ability has caught the attention of researchers at Yale University. Intrigued by it, Yale News reports that the team developed a water-purifying device that mimics mangroves. The device, called an artificial mangrove, copies the plant’s clever design, using specially designed membranes that work like leaves to create negative pressure—similar to how you might drink water through a straw. This allows the device to remove salt from water, imitating the natural process mangroves use to survive in harsh salty environments.

Coconut Shell Carbon Filters

After enjoying a refreshing coconut drink, do you ever wonder where the shell likely ends up? The material itself is incredibly versatile and even being explored for use in renewable energy. Alongside its wide array of uses, scientists have found a way to transform it into a material that helps make water cleaner and tastier.

This material is called coconut shell-activated carbon (CNSAC). It is made by subjecting coconut husks to steam and using phosphoric acid to “activate” it. This “activation” process expands its surface area and creates micropores throughout the carbon. So, as water passes through the carbon, it can adsorb more contaminants and impurities in its pores.

Companies like Springwell have integrated coconut shell carbon into their water filtration systems, demonstrating how seamlessly innovative technology can harmonize with sustainable practices. For instance, coconut-based carbon allows Springwell’s whole-house filter systems to eliminate a broader range of water pollutants, including volatile organic contaminants (VOCs), chlorine, chloramines, hydrogen sulfide, and organic materials. Conveniently, it also helps reduce unpleasant tastes and odors in tap water.

Even more intriguing, coconut carbon is purer than coal and wood, as it doesn’t leave behind ash that can affect the water’s taste. Plus, coconuts can be harvested multiple times a year without damaging the trees, making them an invaluable renewable resource and reinforcing Springwell’s commitment to sustainability.

Final Thoughts

Nature is our greatest teacher. It’s all around us, and if we look closely enough, we’d realize it’s been holding solutions to many water treatment challenges we’ve long struggled to solve. By carefully studying and mimicking nature’s extraordinary mechanisms, scientists can continue innovating with more sustainable water filtration technologies—a move we hope will help ensure greater access to clean drinking water for all.

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