Scottish boffins clean up contaminated land with whisky waste

Anyone who has sampled a drop of Scotland's national drink knows that it can have some sizable side-effects. But they are unlikely to be aware that, besides the hang over, one of the lesser known by products of Whisky production could soon be the ability to clean contaminated brownfield sites.

That is the discovery of a group of researchers at the University of Aberdeen who have today announced that they have pioneered an innovative new way of cleaning contaminated ground and waste water using a by product from Glenfiddich's Speyside distillery.

The imaginatively titled Device for the Remediation and Attenuation of Multiple pollutants, or DRAM, is capable of removing a number of different pollutants from the ground at the same time, making clean up operations quicker and more cost effective.

The researchers behind the device are remaining cagey about exactly what the by product used in the process is, citing commercial factors as they consider launching a spin out company to license the device to firms involved in brownfield development.

However, one of the researchers behind the device, Dr Graeme Paton, said that the process could also utilise other byproducts from the food and beverage industry. "The clean up of contaminated groundwater is an absolutely massive global market," he added. "The technology that we have developed here at Aberdeen is environmentally friendly, sustainable and has the potential to put Scotland at the forefront for remediation technologies."

The University of Aberdeen claims there are up to 330,000 contaminated sites in the UK alone that could feasibly benefit from the new technology.