By Chris Stein, 30th August 2010
source Inter Press Service News Agency
Though it may look like a tea bag, straining water through this recently developed filter could provide a cheap, easily replenished source of water or those who need it most.
The unique device, developed at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, is no ordinary tea bag. It is a sophisticated yet inexpensive water filter that fits into the neck of a bottle and can quickly purify drinking water.
And this filter could provide a short-term solution for those without access to clean drinking water, experts say. Though, the water experts stress, it is not a replacement for water-purifying infrastructure.
Although the filter is yet to be manufactured on a large scale, it could possibly play a role in combating diseases caused by the consumption of unsafe drinking water. According to the United Nations, just over one billion people worldwide lack safe access to drinking water and more than two million people, mostly in developing countries, die each year from diseases associated with poor water and sanitary conditions.
The filter is composed of three integral parts, making it unique among filters, according to Professor Eugene Cloete, dean of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University and developer of the filter.
Similar to other purification devices, a web of nanofibers and activated carbon catch bacteria from the water, said Cloete, one of South Africa’s leading water researchers and former vice-president of the International Water Association.
But what makes this filter unique is the inclusion of a biocide chemical in the filter, which kills any pathogen caught within, Cloete told IPS.
"Bacteria and viruses can’t move through, and then we kill them so they don’t concentrate inside the filter," Cloete said. "There’s nothing like this in the world."