Cleans Water with Nanotechnology

A new water filter developed in South Africa could provide millions of people with clean drinking water. The filter, about the size and shape of a teabag, would be inexpensive, easy to distribute and simple to use.

Researchers are conducting a final set of tests on a new type of diminutive water filter before industrial production can begin. The microbiologist pours water from a plastic bottle though a high-tech, teabag-sized filter before analyzing it in laboratory at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. The filter would be much cheaper than bottled water as well as any other filter on the market. Instead of being filled with black or green tea, the bag contains active carbon granules and is made from nanofibers treated with biocide, which kills bacteria rather than simply filtering them from the water.

This project takes nanotechnology to the poorest of the poor people who live in this world, and it will make a difference in their lives. With some 300 million people in Africa - and over a billion worldwide - living without access to clean drinking water, the need for such a filter is huge. When in mass production, the developers said they expect the teabag to cost just a few South African cents (under half a US cent and under a third of a euro cent).

In addition to being inexpensive the filter is also easy to distribute to rural area and simple to use as it can be placed in an adapter that fits on nearly any regular-sized plastic bottle. Each filter can clean one liter (one quart) of the most polluted water to the point where it is completely safe to drink. Once used, the filter can be disposed of and is biodegradable.

African countries, led by Somalia, Mauritania and Sudan, were ranked to have the most vulnerable water supplies, according to a June report by UK-based risk consultancy firm Maplecroft.

It is simply impossible to build purification infrastructure at every polluted stream. So this filter has taken the solution right at the the people. The water is cleaned right then and there when people drink. The filter is now undergoing testing by the South African Bureau of Standards, after which it can be rolled out to the United Nations and non-governmental organizations that have expressed interest in it.