He cleaned a lagoon… with bubbles
Meet Marino Morikawa, a Peruvian nanoscientist.
When his father called to say the lagoon of his childhood—El Cascajo—had become a dump, Marino left his lab in Japan and flew home.
Using ultra-fine nanobubbles (≈50–100 nm) made with hardware-store parts, he built a natural, chemical-free system that traps pollutants and bacteria:
Inject nanobubbles into the water
As they rise slowly, their ionic charge attracts contaminants
Biofilters with native microorganisms trap and break them down—no chemicals, no disruption to the ecosystem
Results:
✔️ In 13 months, the water was drinkable again
✔️ In 3 years, migratory birds returned
Today, Marino’s mission:
💧 Ultra-effective, low-cost decontamination with zero chemicals
🌍 Active projects at Lake Titicaca and desert oases affected by wastewater from 1.5M+ people
🌱 100 ecosystems restored by 2030, in partnership with local communities
This is deep climate tech in action: simple physics, local biology, real impact.
Would you deploy this in your city?
Credit Ecomedy for the story
