A research team led by Dr Eng. Maciej Thomas from the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy at the Krakow University of Technology (PK) has won first place in the nationwide environmental plebiscite “Common Green Future”. The international team of scientists was awarded for developing an innovative method of using potassium ferrate to treat wastewater at car washes. This is a ‘green’ way of cleaning dirty water of odour and pollutants, in order to reuse it.

Researchers have proposed using potassium ferrate to indirectly remove odours generated by car washes at petrol stations. This is a new application for a compound called a green oxidiser, and extremely useful in the fight for a clean environment.

Potassium ferrate effectively removes suspended solids, heavy metals and other pollutants found in water, while reducing to environmentally harmless iron (III) hydroxide. As a result, it is referred to as a ‘green oxidiser’ or ‘environmentally friendly oxidiser’.