Science News has an article on a low cost home treatment for highly contaminated water. The new treatment turns even dark, foul-smelling, germ-laden water into a drink as clean as most U.S. tap water. This could be a life saver for people in third world countries or any other country where it is necessary for the people to drink contaminated river water in order to survive.
2 thoughts on “New Technology Cleans Dangerous Water”
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My first reaction was “Okay, it’s a patented process, and P&G probably stands to reap billions from the third world.” But not only was I completely unable to find a US patent on the process (“disinfectant AND flocculant AND procter” turns up a new, exciting form of baby wipe), the product turns out to be fairly cheap — $0.10US for a packet good for 10 liters, except for emergency aid, where they plan to sell it at cost of 3.5 cents per packet. The process is apparently a small-scale version of the same process used in municipal wastewater treatment plants. And neither Forbes nor P&G themselves mention a patent. I wonder how difficult it would be for this to be manufactured locally.
This should be useful in Iraq where the people are forced to drink river water