{"id":33685,"date":"2026-06-29T10:43:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?p=33685"},"modified":"2026-07-07T10:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:09:12","slug":"summer-2026-filters-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/summer-2026-filters-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Filters of the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
High Rock Lake, North Carolina. Credit: Dennis Brown.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\n

Can non-woven fabrics help prevent harmful algal blooms?<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

With 365 miles of shoreline, High Rock Lake is North Carolina\u2019s second largest lake. It was constructed in the late 1920s to harness the Yadkin River with a hydroelectric dam to power nearby aluminum mines. Nearly 100 years later, High Rock Dam still provides power, and the lake serves not only as a reservoir, but as host to a variety of recreational activities, including bass fishing, bird watching, and boating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, waters at High Rock Lake are often less than idyllic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHigh Rock Lake has been declared an impaired lake by the Environmental Protection Agency for more than 20 years,\u201d says Jaime Cardenas, a Mountains to Sea Fellow with North Carolina Sea Grant and the NC Water Resources Research Institute. Specifically, he adds, High Rock Lake has a problem with \u201ccyanobacteria,\u201d or blue-green algae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
High Rock Lake was constructed in the late 1920s to harness the Yadkin River with a hydroelectric dam to power nearby aluminum mines. Nearly 100 years later, High Rock Dam still provides power. Credit: PanzerschreckLeopard<\/a>\/CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When nutrients — namely nitrogen and phosphorus — accumulate in large amounts in freshwater, cyanobacteria can grow and spread uncontrollably, causing harmful cyanobacterial algae blooms (\u201ccyanoHABs\u201d). Like many types of algal blooms, cyanoHABs can deplete the oxygen supply in water, choking out other organisms, and also reducing the amount of light available to other aquatic species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, cyanobacteria produce highly potent toxins, which, according to the EPA, can cause a variety of immediate health impacts, ranging from mild \u2014 diarrhea, headaches, and rashes \u2014 to life threatening.<\/a> These toxins spread both through contact with the water and, during blooms, through the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our knowledge about the long-term health effects of exposure to cyanobacteria is still developing. Recently, the Albemarle Regional Health Services and Duke University\u2019s Lisa Satterwhite have been investigating a potential link in northeastern North Carolina between exposure to harmful algal blooms and an unusually high number of cases of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease. <\/a>Satterwhite is also studying cyanoHABs as part of a new Community Collaborative Research Grant<\/a> project with Colleen Karl, chairperson of the Chowan Edenton Environmental Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
Blue-green algal bloom in Isle Royal, MN. Credit: NPS<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaking care of our water sources is the same as taking care of our own health,\u201d Cardenas says. \u201cJust because you aren\u2019t out next to the water every day, doesn\u2019t mean that it isn\u2019t playing a role in your well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Elusive Origins<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas, a doctoral researcher in the department of biology at Wake Forest University, says one of the greatest challenges in reducing pollution that causes algal blooms is that the source or sources often are unclear (or \u201cnon-point\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yadkin River feeds High Rock Lake, which means excess phosphorous and nitrogen might be entering the system anywhere along the river, through run-off directly into the lake, or a combination of the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
High Rock Lake belongs to the Pee Dee River Basin. Credit: Karl Musser, modified by Dennis Brown\/CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas says human activity, particularly new construction, drives nutrient pollution. \u201cThe more you develop an area, especially as you use fertilizers, which usually contain large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, the more you are going to pollute those areas as well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As rain falls over farmland and home gardens, it washes fertilizers, pet waste, and other sources of these nutrients into waterways. But, Cardenas adds, filtering rainwater before it reaches the system can reduce the impact on High Rock Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Melt-Blown Solutions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is filtering storm water using melt-blown fabrics, which are less costly than traditional fabrics used to filter run off. Eunkyoung Shim from North Carolina State University\u2019s Nonwovens Institute<\/a> created the fabric. The process for creating melt-blown fabrics begins with melting down different plastics, then extruding the plastic mixture in thin streams and blowing air to intertwine the strands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
The Yadkin River near Tobaccoville, NC. Credit: Firehill<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is testing the fabrics in three stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the first phase, I was mostly interested in understanding the main water quality picture at High Rock Lake,\u201d he explains. During this stage, he sampled 12 locations across the lake, including sites used by the Yadkin Riverkeeper Association to monitor water quality, as well as sites he suspected would have high levels of chlorophyll-a \u2014 the primary pigment found in cyanobacteria and an indicator for potential blooms. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After determining these hot spots, Cardenas took the samples of water back to test the nonwoven filters at lab-scale at Wake Forest. He started by evaluating their ability to act as a simple filter, with water moving directly through the fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
Map of known problem areas on High Rock Lake and Cardenas’s sampling plan. Credit: Jaime Cardenas.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the fabric passed that benchmark, he then moved on to testing its ability to remove nutrients when water is moving both through and across the filter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImagine that you are mixing sugar and water in a glass with a spoon,\u201d Cardenas offers as an analogy to this second test. By placing the filter in a water column and swirling water around it, Cardenas evaluates how well the filter captures nutrients when the water is moving less predictably, like it would in the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, civil engineers will install the fabric on grates for storm drains and retention ponds or add the fabric along inclines on the banks of lakes and streams. When it rains, the runoff will move across and through the filter from all angles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"panoramic:<\/a>
This composite panoramic of the Abbott’s Creek branch of High Rock Lake captures only a fraction of the lake’s 365 miles of shoreline. Credit: Dennis Brown\/CC BY 3.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas also incorporated additional treatments to the fabric, such as activated charcoal. Activated charcoal (or \u201cactivated carbon\u201d) pulls harmful materials from contaminated air and water.<\/a> This includes excess phosphorus and nitrogen, which will \u201csorb\u201d or stick to the carbon atoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas found that the addition of activated charcoal did indeed help eliminate nitrogen and phosphorus, which otherwise both dissolve in water, making them difficult to remove using filtering alone. In fact, Cardenas\u2019s process removed 51% of the nitrogen, 73% of the phosphorus \u2014 and 86% of E Coli bacteria \u2014 in just 15 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is now expanding his testing, studying the filter’s ability to remove and prevent the growth of cyanobacteria over two weeks. The longer time period will show whether the fabric is effective not only against cyanobacteria that rely on the nutrients available in the water, but also against what he calls \u201clate bloomers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
In the lab, Cardenas submerged the meltblown fabric filters in a column of swirling water. Credit: Jaime Cardenas<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even after filtering out all the nutrients available in the water, late-bloomers can use nitrogen available in the atmosphere to continue growing and prolong an algal bloom. To maximize effectiveness, the filters must be able to combat these cyanobacteria, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is currently culturing several common cyanobacteria in the lab and developing methods to reliably measure both their growth and removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he has finished with his testing, researchers at Auburn University will use his findings to conduct large-scale evaluations. In addition, researchers at the University of South Alabama intend to recover and repurpose the nutrients that the fabric has filtered out during the experiments at Auburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"two<\/a>
Late-bloomers such as Lyngbya sp<\/em>. (left) and Anabaena sp.<\/em> (right) can use nitrogen available in the atmosphere to grow.

Credit: (left) Rolf Schauder (University of Frankfurt), Mark Schneegurt (Wichita State University), and Cyanosite<\/a>; (right) Cliff Ambers (University of Oregon), Mark Schneegurt (Wichita State University), and Cyanosite<\/a><\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recipe for Resilience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas says preventing algae blooms has a wide range of impacts, beyond the ecological.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to human health impacts, eliminating blooms at the source can have economic benefits. \u201cThe more you take care of a body of water, the less expensive it will be for you in the long run,\u201d Cardenas says. \u201cIf we are able to prevent these algae blooms then less money will need to be spent on drinking water treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
When Mountains to Sea Fellow Jaime Cardenas (here) has finished testing meltblown fabrics, researchers at Auburn University will use his findings to conduct large-scale evaluations. Credit: Yadkin Riverkeeper<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Cardenas, establishing systems to remediate and protect our waterways is key to building resilient communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is always worth maintaining these water sources,\u201d he says, \u201cnot only for our own benefit, but also to allow for future generations to reap the same benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algal Blooms: How to Stay Safe<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Streets to Sea: Addressing Stormwater Runoff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safeguarding Water<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaking Landfills<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lily Soetebier<\/strong> is a contributing editor for Coastwatch<\/em> and an award-winning science communicator for North Carolina Sea Grant. She holds a M.S. in technical communication from North Carolina State University.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n
\n \n from SUMMER 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/svg><\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
High Rock Lake, North Carolina. Credit: Dennis Brown.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n

With 365 miles of shoreline, High Rock Lake is North Carolina\u2019s second largest lake. It was constructed in the late 1920s to harness the Yadkin River with a hydroelectric dam to power nearby aluminum mines. Nearly 100 years later, High Rock Dam still provides power, and the lake serves not only as a reservoir, but as host to a variety of recreational activities, including bass fishing, bird watching, and boating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, waters at High Rock Lake are often less than idyllic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHigh Rock Lake has been declared an impaired lake by the Environmental Protection Agency for more than 20 years,\u201d says Jaime Cardenas, a Mountains to Sea Fellow with North Carolina Sea Grant and the NC Water Resources Research Institute. Specifically, he adds, High Rock Lake has a problem with \u201ccyanobacteria,\u201d or blue-green algae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
High Rock Lake was constructed in the late 1920s to harness the Yadkin River with a hydroelectric dam to power nearby aluminum mines. Nearly 100 years later, High Rock Dam still provides power. Credit: PanzerschreckLeopard<\/a>\/CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When nutrients -- namely nitrogen and phosphorus -- accumulate in large amounts in freshwater, cyanobacteria can grow and spread uncontrollably, causing harmful cyanobacterial algae blooms (\u201ccyanoHABs\u201d). Like many types of algal blooms, cyanoHABs can deplete the oxygen supply in water, choking out other organisms, and also reducing the amount of light available to other aquatic species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, cyanobacteria produce highly potent toxins, which, according to the EPA, can cause a variety of immediate health impacts, ranging from mild \u2014 diarrhea, headaches, and rashes \u2014 to life threatening.<\/a> These toxins spread both through contact with the water and, during blooms, through the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our knowledge about the long-term health effects of exposure to cyanobacteria is still developing. Recently, the Albemarle Regional Health Services and Duke University\u2019s Lisa Satterwhite have been investigating a potential link in northeastern North Carolina between exposure to harmful algal blooms and an unusually high number of cases of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease. <\/a>Satterwhite is also studying cyanoHABs as part of a new Community Collaborative Research Grant<\/a> project with Colleen Karl, chairperson of the Chowan Edenton Environmental Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
Blue-green algal bloom in Isle Royal, MN. Credit: NPS<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaking care of our water sources is the same as taking care of our own health,\u201d Cardenas says. \u201cJust because you aren\u2019t out next to the water every day, doesn\u2019t mean that it isn\u2019t playing a role in your well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Elusive Origins<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas, a doctoral researcher in the department of biology at Wake Forest University, says one of the greatest challenges in reducing pollution that causes algal blooms is that the source or sources often are unclear (or \u201cnon-point\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yadkin River feeds High Rock Lake, which means excess phosphorous and nitrogen might be entering the system anywhere along the river, through run-off directly into the lake, or a combination of the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
High Rock Lake belongs to the Pee Dee River Basin. Credit: Karl Musser, modified by Dennis Brown\/CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas says human activity, particularly new construction, drives nutrient pollution. \u201cThe more you develop an area, especially as you use fertilizers, which usually contain large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, the more you are going to pollute those areas as well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As rain falls over farmland and home gardens, it washes fertilizers, pet waste, and other sources of these nutrients into waterways. But, Cardenas adds, filtering rainwater before it reaches the system can reduce the impact on High Rock Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Melt-Blown Solutions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is filtering storm water using melt-blown fabrics, which are less costly than traditional fabrics used to filter run off. Eunkyoung Shim from North Carolina State University\u2019s Nonwovens Institute<\/a> created the fabric. The process for creating melt-blown fabrics begins with melting down different plastics, then extruding the plastic mixture in thin streams and blowing air to intertwine the strands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
The Yadkin River near Tobaccoville, NC. Credit: Firehill<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is testing the fabrics in three stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the first phase, I was mostly interested in understanding the main water quality picture at High Rock Lake,\u201d he explains. During this stage, he sampled 12 locations across the lake, including sites used by the Yadkin Riverkeeper Association to monitor water quality, as well as sites he suspected would have high levels of chlorophyll-a \u2014 the primary pigment found in cyanobacteria and an indicator for potential blooms. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After determining these hot spots, Cardenas took the samples of water back to test the nonwoven filters at lab-scale at Wake Forest. He started by evaluating their ability to act as a simple filter, with water moving directly through the fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
Map of known problem areas on High Rock Lake and Cardenas's sampling plan. Credit: Jaime Cardenas.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the fabric passed that benchmark, he then moved on to testing its ability to remove nutrients when water is moving both through and across the filter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImagine that you are mixing sugar and water in a glass with a spoon,\u201d Cardenas offers as an analogy to this second test. By placing the filter in a water column and swirling water around it, Cardenas evaluates how well the filter captures nutrients when the water is moving less predictably, like it would in the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, civil engineers will install the fabric on grates for storm drains and retention ponds or add the fabric along inclines on the banks of lakes and streams. When it rains, the runoff will move across and through the filter from all angles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"panoramic:<\/a>
This composite panoramic of the Abbott's Creek branch of High Rock Lake captures only a fraction of the lake's 365 miles of shoreline. Credit: Dennis Brown\/CC BY 3.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas also incorporated additional treatments to the fabric, such as activated charcoal. Activated charcoal (or \u201cactivated carbon\u201d) pulls harmful materials from contaminated air and water.<\/a> This includes excess phosphorus and nitrogen, which will \u201csorb\u201d or stick to the carbon atoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas found that the addition of activated charcoal did indeed help eliminate nitrogen and phosphorus, which otherwise both dissolve in water, making them difficult to remove using filtering alone. In fact, Cardenas\u2019s process removed 51% of the nitrogen, 73% of the phosphorus \u2014 and 86% of E Coli bacteria \u2014 in just 15 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is now expanding his testing, studying the filter's ability to remove and prevent the growth of cyanobacteria over two weeks. The longer time period will show whether the fabric is effective not only against cyanobacteria that rely on the nutrients available in the water, but also against what he calls \u201clate bloomers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
In the lab, Cardenas submerged the meltblown fabric filters in a column of swirling water. Credit: Jaime Cardenas<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even after filtering out all the nutrients available in the water, late-bloomers can use nitrogen available in the atmosphere to continue growing and prolong an algal bloom. To maximize effectiveness, the filters must be able to combat these cyanobacteria, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas is currently culturing several common cyanobacteria in the lab and developing methods to reliably measure both their growth and removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he has finished with his testing, researchers at Auburn University will use his findings to conduct large-scale evaluations. In addition, researchers at the University of South Alabama intend to recover and repurpose the nutrients that the fabric has filtered out during the experiments at Auburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"two<\/a>
Late-bloomers such as Lyngbya sp<\/em>. (left) and Anabaena sp.<\/em> (right) can use nitrogen available in the atmosphere to grow.

Credit: (left) Rolf Schauder (University of Frankfurt), Mark Schneegurt (Wichita State University), and Cyanosite<\/a>; (right) Cliff Ambers (University of Oregon), Mark Schneegurt (Wichita State University), and Cyanosite<\/a><\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recipe for Resilience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas says preventing algae blooms has a wide range of impacts, beyond the ecological.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to human health impacts, eliminating blooms at the source can have economic benefits. \u201cThe more you take care of a body of water, the less expensive it will be for you in the long run,\u201d Cardenas says. \u201cIf we are able to prevent these algae blooms then less money will need to be spent on drinking water treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image:<\/a>
When Mountains to Sea Fellow Jaime Cardenas (here) has finished testing meltblown fabrics, researchers at Auburn University will use his findings to conduct large-scale evaluations. Credit: Yadkin Riverkeeper<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Cardenas, establishing systems to remediate and protect our waterways is key to building resilient communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is always worth maintaining these water sources,\u201d he says, \u201cnot only for our own benefit, but also to allow for future generations to reap the same benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algal Blooms: How to Stay Safe<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Streets to Sea: Addressing Stormwater Runoff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safeguarding Water<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaking Landfills<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lily Soetebier<\/strong> is a contributing editor for Coastwatch<\/em> and an award-winning science communicator for North Carolina Sea Grant. She holds a M.S. in technical communication from North Carolina State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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