Nanotech Tea Bag Purifies Drinking Water for Less Than a Penny
Posted By Cameron Scott On August 17, 2010 @ 7:05 pm In global development,Water Issues | 7 Comments
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Roughly 1 billion people [5] in the world have no access to safe drinking water, and contaminated water [6] kills more people worldwide than all forms of violence combined. Seeking to provide a solution to this problem, South African researchers have created a water-purifying nanotech [7] tea bag that costs half a cent. Portable, instantly effective and with no chance of recontamination, the tea bag sounds like the best idea since sliced bread.
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Here’s how the nanotech teabag works: it combines ultra-thin nanoscale fibers [9] to filter harmful contaminants, while grains of activated carbon to kill bacteria. Simply put the tea bag in the neck of a water bottle [10] and drink the water through it.
Marelize Botes, a microbiology researcher at South Africa [11]‘s Stellenbosch University says “The nanofibres will disintegrate in liquids after a few days and will have no environmental impact. The raw materials of the tea-bag filter are not toxic to humans.”
Even at half an American cent, the tea bag may be too expensive for the world’s poorest to afford — but that’s what NGOs are for, right?
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/nanotech-tea-bag-purifies-drinking-water-for-less-than-a-penny/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/nanotech-tea-bag-purifies-drinking-water-for-less-than-a-penny/
[4] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/08/17/nanotech-tea-bag-purifies-drinking-water-for-less-than-a-penny/800px-teabag_a_ubt/
[5] 1 billion people: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/mdg1/en/index.html
[6] water: http://inhabitat.com/water/
[7] nanotech: http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=nanotechnology
[8] Image: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ydPMl7hOtA
[9] fibers: http://inhabitat.com/2010/08/05/nz-company-creates-revolutionary-nanofibres-from-fish-skins/
[10] water bottle: http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=water+bottles
[11] South Africa: http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/12/pitch-africa-is-a-soccer-field-that-also-produces-clean-drinking-water/
[12] Good: http://www.good.is/post/a-nanotech-teabag-delivers-potable-water-for-less-than-a-cent/
[13] io9: http://io9.com/5611927/nanotech-tea-bag-creates-safe-drinking-water-instantly-for-less-than-a-penny
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