Tiny mussels, big lessons: Brooklyn project highlights water cleanup efforts
The Newtown Creek Alliance is using ribbed mussels and salt marsh grass in a tank called “Tina” to demonstrate how nature-based solutions can help filter contaminated water.
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Mussels are helping teach students and community members about ways to improve water quality in one of Brooklyn’s most polluted waterways.
The Newtown Creek Alliance is using ribbed mussels and salt marsh grass in a tank called “Tina” to demonstrate how nature-based solutions can help filter contaminated water.
Water from Newtown Creek is pumped into the tank, where the mussels naturally filter pollutants before the water is returned to the creek.
“Each one filters somewhere between one and five gallons of water a day,” said Gus Perry, with the Newtown Creek Alliance.
Newtown Creek, which is a designated superfund site, receives over a billion gallons of combined sewage overflow each year, along with pollutants from street runoff, chemicals and petroleum products, according to the alliance.
The organization says one tank alone cannot clean the entire creek, but projects like Tina help show students how natural systems can play a role in protecting the environment.
The Newtown Creek Alliance hopes to expand efforts like this while continuing to educate the community about water quality and green infrastructure.
