Ventilators Collaboration Network

Due to the urgent needs for ventilators caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, SOP Technologies has worked with engineers to initiate the Ventilators Collaboration Network.

The effort includes:

• Webinars for collaboration between engineers, manufacturers, distributors and others interested in quickly providing ventilators to those in need

• Online Slack workspace for continuous collaboration

• Email Newsletter

• Website with information about ventilator projects around the world, supplier and manufacturer contacts, and government resources

The goal of the network is to improve collaboration and knowledge sharing among the various stakeholders that would be involved in the process of designing, manufacturing and distributing ventilators (especially low cost, open source ventilators).We are helping to accelerate the projects others are already working on, in order to meet the goal of quickly providing ventilators to people in need.

Stormwater drainage filters prevent floods and pollution at local waterways - videos

The City of Miami recently mentioned its partnership with SOP Technologies to use our stormwater curb drainage filters to address stormwater flooding and stormwater pollution, while saving money for the city. Here is the message from the city’s Resilience team:

Source: https://mailchi.mp/2b36e962c853/022720-762137?e=eb182e8ac7

Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP)

Videos showing SOP Technologies’ inlet protection screens serving to address stormwater runoff and pollution issues in several cities.

Concentration of Metals in Sargassum - New Research

According to the paper, Element concentrations in pelagic Sargassum along the Mexican Caribbean coast in 2018-2019 (citation below),

“Prevention and mitigation measures are urgently needed to ensure that the massive influx of sargasso does not harm the coastal ecosystems and the tourism-based economy of countries located in the vicinity of the Great Atlantic Sargassum belt, including the Mexican Caribbean.”

The paper provides additional insights about the concentration of metals in Sargassum from the area of the study/research. Some excerpts from the paper:

“The massive influx of pelagic Sargassum spp. (sargasso) into the Mexican Caribbean Sea has caused major deterioration of the coastal environment and has affected the tourism industry as well as livelihoods since 2015. Species of Sargassum have high capacity to absorb metals; thus, leachates of sargasso may contribute to contamination by potentially toxic metals when they drain into the sea and into the groundwater when dumped in inadequate land deposits.” […]

“Beaching of sargasso has caused havoc to the Caribbean coastal ecosystems. Leachates and particulate organic matter from stranded decaying algal masses depleted the oxygen in near shore waters and reduced visibility of the water column, causing mortality of near-shore seagrasses and fauna (van Tussenbroek et al., 2017; Rodríguez-Martínez et al., 2019). Onshore and near shore masses of sargasso interfered with the seaward journeys of the juvenile turtles (Maurer, De Neef & Stapleton, 2015), affected sea turtle nestings (Maurer, Stapleton & Layman, 2018) and altered the trophic structure of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in coastal marine systems (Cabanillas-Terán et al., 2019).” […]

Citation: Rodríguez-Martínez RE, Roy PD, Torrescano-Valle N, Cabanillas-Terán N, Carrillo-Domínguez S, Collado-Vides L, García-Sánchez M, van Tussenbroek BI. 2020. Element concentrations in pelagic Sargassum along the Mexican Caribbean coast in 2018-2019. PeerJ 8:e8667 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8667

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SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS SARGASSUM ISSUES

Addressing the issues posed by Sargassum requires a multi-faceted approach, and there is no “one size fits all” solution. One type of Sargassum solution being implemented are specialized booms such as the Elastec Beach Bouncer. The booms serve as a barrier to the keep Sargassum away from the shore, while protecting marine life.. In combination with other solutions, the booms help to minimize the accumulation of Sargassum on the shoreline, in order to protect near-shore marine life and human health. Contact SOP Technologies for more information: info@soptechint.com

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SARGASSUM ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS EVENT AND WEBCAST

Our first Sargassum Issues and Solutions Event took place on July 30, 2019 at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and via live webcast with participants from around the world. There were approximately 100 attendees in person and online.

Preventing pollution of Biscayne Bay - SOP Technologies

Public Works departments in Florida are doing their part to stop ocean pollution with stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs).

Organic matter (leaves and grass clippings) contribute to nutrient pollution. Plastics and other man-made litter are harmful to marine life, and new studies are analyzing their impacts to human health as well. Also, as leaves, street litter and stormwater runoff on the street enter storm drainage systems, they clog pipes and cause street flooding.

By keeping the leaves and debris on the street, cities reduce their maintenance costs because they do not need to use expensive vacuum trucks to suck out the pollutants from drainage pipes; instead, they use street sweepers and save money.

Here are photos of SOP Technologies patented stormwater filters preventing plastics, cigarettes, paper, grass clippings and other pollutants from entering the storm drains and discharging to Biscayne Bay.