14 DAY TRIAL // Access to clean water is a major issue in undeveloped parts of the world. What's more, developed countries sometimes also struggle with this problem, especially in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Researchers writing in a recent issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology describe a new way to purify water.
They say that an innovative material made up of loads of silver nanoparticles that have been trapped in a porous gel can make water drinkable by absorbing bacteria.
Experiments have showed that this gel material can even take on and destroy dangerous bacterial species such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.
What's more, it can be reused up to 20 times before it starts to lose its effectiveness.
“After 15 seconds in the gel, the amount of bacteria in the water squeezed out was 0.1% that of the original levels.”
“When the team increased the exposure time to five minutes, the amount of bacteria in the treated water was about one-millionth that of the tainted water,” the material's inventors explain.
According to TreeHugger, the silver nanoparticles are the ones that destroy the bacteria and purify the water.
The porous gel merely serves to keep them contained and make sure that the silver doesn't hit the water source and contaminate it.