Clean water with new materials

In an emergency, when there is no clean water, dirty water is a potential solution that can save lives.

>>> Water purifier in bottle

After the tsunami in 2004 in the Indian Ocean, many people did not have access to clean water. From here, researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the University of Colorado, USA decided to create a water filtration system that can kill bacteria quickly without energy.

The process of cleaning the water. (Photo: Loo et al.)

As a result, they create a porous polymer gel containing sterile silver nanoparticles and remove dirt from the water, forming pure water. The purified water in the water is within the allowable limits of the World Health Organization (WHO), Popsci reported.

The team found that with 4 grams of material, a 1.5 cm diameter cylinder, 9cm long, could be purified and cleaned with half a liter of water. It is reused more than 20 times without losing its ability to disinfect.

Boiled water helps to remove parasites like giardias and harmful bacteria. However, after natural disaster, not everyone is able to boil water.

Xiao Hu, one of the creators of the material, said: 'This gel will be dropping off the helicopter after the disaster.'

Researchers will test the gel several times before producing it widely in the near future.