Lance Butler, a senior scientist for the Philadelphia Water Department, and his team have spent seven years studying the ability of freshwater mussels that could help filter pollutants from the water, writes Kyle Bagenstose for the Delaware Currents.
Freshwater mussels are known to consume nitrogen and phosphorus, which contribute to water pollution, and they can also help trap harmful heavy metals.
Butler’s research aims to harness the mussels’ natural filtering capabilities and use those to improve water quality. This effort will be significantly expanded with a planned mussel hatchery, which is set to be put in place at Bartram’s Garden in the next several years.
The facility, championed by the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, will produce up to a million mussels annually that will then be distributed into waterways through the region, including the Delaware River.
The hatchery is the culmination of years of planning and visioning to reintroduce mussels into the local streams, according to Kathy Klein, executive director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.
“If we can work to restore these animals into our streams where they were historically abundant, there’s a lot of value in that,” said Klein.
Read more about freshwater mussels and how they could be a solution to the Delaware River pollution in the Delaware Currents.
_____
