It takes just a few minutes to absorb the mercury from an entire lake.

Credit: Good News Network

Scientists from the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Sciences just invented a device that many are calling a "super sponge" that can absorb mercury from polluted water in a matter of seconds. With the many water crises occurring around the world, it's more important than ever to develop tools like this sponge to help combat a growing problem.

Though the problem seemingly plaguing U.S. citizens right now is lead being found in tap water, mercury in water is a viable problem as well. Just in the state this sponge was created in, Minnesota, two-thirds of the bodies of water on the Impaired Waters List were found to be primarily impaired by mercury contamination. This is significant and may now be a problem of the past if the sponge proves effective for large bodies of water. Several sources have cited this as an example:

"Think of it this way: if Como Lake in St. Paul was contaminated with mercury at the EPA limit, the sponge needed to remove all of the mercury would be the size of a basketball."

It's absolutely incredible that such a small tool could accomplish this in so little time. According to the study, it would take just a few seconds for the sponge to soak up the mercury in the tap water in someone's home, or as little as 5 minutes to remove mercury from industrial wastewater. With intense mercury absorption properties, the toxic chemical is attracted to the sponge, which then converts it into a non-toxic complex so that the sponge can be easily disposed of in a landfill. The sponge is also antibacterial and antimicrobial.