The home appliance can easily generate as much as 500 grams of microplastics each year. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Fish gills may inspire an unexpected solution to one of our biggest sources of microplastics . According to researchers at Germany's University of Bonn, taking a cue from the animals' filtration systems might help remove the vast majority of harmful plastic particulates from washing machine wastewater. Microplastics are a huge problem.

The best vacuums are lightweight with strong filtration systems and multiple attachments. Keeping your home spotless can sometimes feel like a never-ending battle, but with the right vacuum, you can actually make cleaning easy. Whether you're dealing with pet hair, constant dust and kids' messes, a powerful vacuum is your best ally. We've done a deep dive into the best vacuums on the market, from Dyson to Shark, Miele and other well-known brands. There are lightweight options, hands-free options and vacuums that are extra-tough on pet hair.

Invest in a manual or robotic pool cleaner to keep your pool's water crystal clear. A swimming pool can be a fun and valuable addition to your home and property, but maintaining it and keeping its water clean is essential. Pool cleaners and vacuums play a pivotal role in achieving this by efficiently removing debris, algae and other harmful bacteria and contaminants that can compromise water quality. This proactive approach to pool maintenance ensures a safer swimming environment, clear blue water and extends the overall lifespan of the pool and its equipment. Many pool cleaners now cater to different water types, preferences and maintenance needs.

A pool should create memories. A pool should have clean water. A pool should be safe. A pool should not be a chemical tank or an energy guzzler. It's time to change the way we keep or clean our swimming pools.

It's easy to take water for granted. Turn on the tap, and you'll receive clean, life-giving water (with some very notable exceptions). But for a myriad of reasons, ranging from our changing climate to aging infrastructure to growing demands for water, all aspects of the water cycle -- how it is collected, cleaned, distributed (and repeat) -- are overdue for a technological makeover. For one thing, the workforce behind our waterworks is aging, at least within the public water utility sector, which is composed of an astounding 50,000 individual systems. "Lots of senior engineers are 30 years into their job and are reaching retirement," says Will Maize, a water industry analyst with market research firm Bluefield Research.

Coway makes Airmega air filtration systems that suck allergens out of the air in your home. And now it's making the devices easier to control, with the integration of Amazon Alexa voice commands, starting in mid-January. On top of that, the company will ship a graphite version of its filtration system in mid-February. The graphite unit will come in the Airmega 400 ($750) and 400s ($850) models. The Alexa integration is one more example of how much easier it can be to control devices when they become part of the Internet of Things, which is making everyday objects smart and connected. With Alexa, you can now ask Airmega for updates on indoor air quality, filter lifetime, fan speed changes, timer setup, and more.

The project, which is being done with Sweetwater Tech Resources, utilizes Water Planet's IMS-5000 Integrated Produced Water Treatment Solution powered by IntelliFlux. The IMS-5000 technology used in the pilot is an integrated mechanical and membrane filtration system that incorporates ceramic membranes to filter the water. It was developed to perform in oil & gas produced water treatment, one of the most challenging water treatment applications on the planet. As part of the project, Water Planet is also running a standard reverse osmosis unit to desalt the brackish water that is left after treatment by the ceramic ultrafiltration membranes. "We are currently running a series of demonstrations using a range of waters provided by a consortium of California oil producers to evaluate treating produced water for potential use in agricultural irrigation.