Tracking Water Pollution

Take a sample from almost any major body of water, and you’re likely to find microplastics, or bits of plastic pollution less than 5 mm long. Many experts agree that microplastics are a cause for concern, as they may harm marine life or taint our fish and water supplies. But little is known about them beyond their ­prevalence—in an August report, the World Health Organization said getting more microplastics data is an “urgent concern.” That’s where the Microplastics-­Sensing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle comes in. Designed jointly by Draper and Sprout working alongside the Environmental Protection Agency, the raylike drone is meant to swim around a body of water, collecting and analyzing samples for their microplastics content. Draper project lead Lou Kratchman says that data can be a jumping-off point for more advanced microplastics research. “We need something that’s comparable to the world Air Quality Index,” he says. “Kind of a global weather map that, in real time, we can look and see how the microplastics situation is changing.” While the drone is still a concept, a simpler prototype is already being successfully used in Hawaii. —Alex Fitzpatrick