One major problem in the world today is that we are not efficiently using the water that we have. Many places in the world do not even have potable water that they can drink. Still other areas overuse their water supplies on things such as agriculture. In other areas, the climate is just so arid that it is hard to maintain a steady supply of water. Because of the essential need for this natural resource, people have been trying to figure out new ways of collecting and distributing water to places that do not have as much of it. One technique that has been used is purifying water that is unhealthy for consumption into potable water that can be moved to other places.
Some researchers have come up with a mechanism for purifying water using silver particles. Their idea is more for use in emergency situations rather than purifying water in bulk. In their study, they came up with a paper filtering system coated with silver nanoparticles that could help filter out and kill the bacteria that is in the contaminated water. The paper filter can be held in the hand and the water can be poured through the paper to filter out the contaminants. This relatively simple mechanism was developed based on the knowledge that people have been using silver to purify water for many, many years and centuries.
In their laboratory studies, they have found that this process is very effective at removing and killing bacterial contaminants. Now that they have the laboratory studies under their belt, they would soon like to move onto testing this mechanism in the field. Hopefully someday, if this mechanism is effective in the field, it could be moved to a bigger scale so that it could be taken across seas to places such as Africa and India. This mechanism for water purification could be very useful in these areas to help provide the people there with potable drinking water.
I think that this is a great concept and would really like to this put into action. I am curious on how this might possibly become something that is done in bulk. I wonder how much water they can do with the current system.
ReplyDeleteThis will need to be cost effective for those living on marginal means, which would include many for whom potable water access is an issue. I have also seen solutions of putting water into plastic jugs and having some sterilization from placing them out in the sun. But many solutions are needed, and this could certainly help in many situations.
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