Engineering360: "Microplatics in Drinking Water"

Talk about dis-appetizing! At least a filter can lower this?

This article says the particles are too small to be caught by filters.

Though how a 5 mm particle is too small to be trapped by a filter eludes me.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/06/plastic-fibres-found-tap-water-around-world-study-reveals

Well, OK then, if the primary number density is in the form of small diameter plastic fibers, I can see how these can propagate themselves by deformations through a filter medium. Surely there is some physical difference between the actual fibers and water that could lend itself to an inexpensive means of separation.

Could "the cure be worse than the disease", sure it careful attention to certain details are not followed.

Example: Suppose some brilliant engineer discovered that froth flotation could remove the plastic particles contaminating a water source. If that were the only issue with the water, and no additive was needed to be able to effect the separation, then the solution would be at hand. If however, the separation required intensive use of surfactant that had to be oxidized/digested out of the water, that might not be as attractive as a simple membrane separation such as micro-filtration (sub-micron) or ultra-filtration. Beyond that lies membrane separations utilizing reverse osmosis membranes that can effectively remove bacteria and virus particles from water.