Abstract
This research aimed to develop a technique for non-point pollution source utilizing the fresh-water clam as water purification material. The fundamental abundance of fresh-water clams was investigated at first. However, we studied neither the direct nor short-term effect on water purification, but rather focused on the indirect and long-term effect on water purification of fresh-water clams.
The biological characteristic and population density of fresh-water clams were quantified. It was confirmed that various kinds of useful and harmful elements are included in fresh-water clams from the result of chemical components tests. Based on these results, calculation results of the indirect water purification effects due to the growth of fresh-water clams was indicated using phosphorous as an example of a water pollutant. It was suggested that the utilization of fresh-water clams as one kind of bio-remediation technique is expected to be a great development for the restriction of non-point pollution sources. However, the fresh-water clam focused on in this research was considered an exotic species, so further accumulation of various information, such as the condition of distribution and research concerned to ecological aspects, would be necessary.
