# Safe drinking water for $20



## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

http://txchnologist.com/post/93135974895/polymer-filter-quickly-makes-water-safe-to-drink

_"It's a thirsty world out there. But with much of the globe's drinking supply unimproved by treatment systems that can remove animal waste, bacteria, viruses, and chemicals, a clean sip of water is too often a luxury.

Many researchers and inventors are looking for cheaper and faster ways to get clean drinking water to people who lack it. On the industrial scale, people are refining filtration membranes by using advanced materials like graphene to make more efficient potable water supplies. Others are using architecture to make rain-harvesting buildings. For individuals, one designer has made a solar power distiller to turn saltwater fresh. These are just a few examples of a lot of brainpower going in to help around 780 million people who have limited access to clean water.

Now a Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) team says they have developed a novel personal filtration tool that will contribute to the solution. Using a three-stage system that includes an advanced polymer membrane, they say the device, called DrinkPure, works so quickly that it can filter up to a liter of water a minute.
"What makes our DrinkPure filter unique is that you can screw it on to virtually any plastic bottle. It doesn't require a pump or a reservoir, so it's very easy to use," said Jeremy Nussbaumer, a 23-year-old former ETHZ mechanical engineering student. "You simply screw the filter onto a bottle containing polluted water, then you can put it straight in your mouth and take a drink."

Water coming into the system first passes a large screen that filters sand and organic matter. Then it moves through an activated charcoal layer that removes chemicals, metals and odors. Finally, it goes through the polymer layer, which is impregnated with nanoscopic pores that are all exactly the same size. This removes bacteria, viruses and other microbes.

"No pump is needed. No cleaning of the parts is necessary. Moreover, DrinkPure has no moving parts or easily breakable materials," said Nussbaumer.

The DrinkPure device is said to weigh around 3.5 ounces and effectively filter 300 liters of contaminated water, enough for one person's drinking water requirements over the course of a year. The team hopes to start producing and selling it for below $20 beginning in January 2015. They want to ship the initial production run to Africa, but are looking to set up local operations to manufacture it wherever the DrinkPure filter is most needed.

The team is now running an Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund their project."_


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

Interesting concept. I'd like to check one out then take it to one of my chemist friends to run some tests on the final water product using various contaminates.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

For the same money, I can build a BioSand water filter and filter 1000's of gallons... not just 300 liters (79.25 gallons!)


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

LincTex said:


> For the same money, I can build a BioSand water filter and filter 1000's of gallons... not just 300 liters (79.25 gallons!)


Can your filter be readily carried in a backpack, weight 3 1/2 ounces, threads to common bottles and provide water for 1 person for the course of a year without exchange the media?


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

Thanks, LazyL. One thing I look for in water purification systems is the percentage of gunk it removes...particulates, bacteria, chemicals, viruses, etc. I did a brief search but didn't find much...just a few sites telling me this thing is small and will purify water. But "pure" is relative. If you find any specs, please post - I'm always on the lookout for stuff like this if it is better than what I already have.


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## airdrop (Jan 6, 2012)

Maybe they should have included a bright economics student in the team so they know how to start a business. Sell stock's ??????


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

airdrop said:


> Maybe they should have included a bright economics student in the team so they know how to start a business. Sell stock's ??????


The problem with that is no bright econ students who want to make something of their career [after becoming a permanent indentured servant to the .gov on student loans] are going to spend 10 minutes on this.

the position of selling stocks that is based on a business model of GIVING AWAY the end product to a people who have NO MONEY, and who will die of AIDS anyway if they don't die of civil war (genocide) or Islamic cleansing is fright with cash negative consequences...

What's not to LOVE??? I'll drop some bucks into that shit, hook a brother up!

NOT.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

For those looking for a similar cheap device...limited time. I have several already and bought a few more just now.

http://sport.woot.com/offers/lifest...il&utm_term=0_c5ca76da11-641015b38f-291257805


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

TheLazyL said:


> Can your filter be readily carried in a backpack, weight 3 1/2 ounces, threads to common bottles and provide water for 1 person for the course of a year without exchange the media?


300 liters is not hardly enough for one person for one year - maybe if you never broke a sweat. I use over a gallon a day when working hard, easily.

If it gets down to that level... 
I probably have LOT bigger things to worry about.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

Agreed.

It does sound like a good TEMPORARY solution to water though.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

The charcoal filter is only going to last so long against chemicals. You could get sick after it stops working. Depending on the amount of chemical contamination, the filter could stop working long before it's filtered 300 liters of water.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

LincTex said:


> For the same money, I can build a BioSand water filter and filter 1000's of gallons... not just 300 liters (79.25 gallons!)


But if there's pesticide runoff in the water or contamination from other chemicals, a biosand filter won't help you.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

TheLazyL said:


> Can your filter be readily carried in a backpack, weight 3 1/2 ounces, threads to common bottles and provide water for 1 person for the course of a year without exchange the media?


please define common bottles in EU, USA and Africa. Are one and two liter bottles universal with the threads and mouth size? (it's an honest question, I really don't know, are they standardized???) It's been ages since I was in Europe and I didn't care about finding a bottle with a specific mouth size, I wanted wasser ohne gasse basically what in US we call bottled water, because Europeans are completely insane they apparently like to drink soda water which tastes like... nevermind, anyway, I'm hoping that was a euro-fad and they've come to their senses. I remember pulling into one little mom and pop shoppe somewhere and finding 1.5L bottles of Evian in their cooler... it was like there was a ray of sunshine from Heaven itself right onto their cooler.

I bought them all.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

BillS said:


> But if there's pesticide runoff in the water or contamination from other chemicals, a biosand filter won't help you.


Good point - the clean water that comes out of the BioSand filter can then get run through an activated charcoal filter to finish it. A Brita or Pur filter should handle that chore easily.


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## northstarprepper (Mar 19, 2013)

The mini Sawyer filter sells for around twenty bucks and goes way beyond 300 liters. You can back flush the filter with a syringe and keep going. The Lifestraw is also comparable to this product and more feasible for Africa, where not everyone has a plastic bottle like we do. This may well be a great new product, but it is entering a crowded field with some good products already out there and proven. They will find a niche, as some people always prefer the latest and greatest thing, but I don't see any one brand dominating this market. Plenty on here have Lifestraws. I and others have Sawyers. Others swear by Berkey's. And so on...


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## besign (Aug 9, 2014)

If you've got a few (clear) plastic bottles and the sort of sunshine Africa gets, you don't need anything else (storebought) to have safe drinking water. Just filter it thru grass/ gravel, charcoal, sand, rags, then expose the bottles of cleaned water to at least 6 hours of bright sun, preferably on a reflective surfaces.

agreed, you can need 2 gallons of water per day in hot weather, pushing hard. about 7 liters. So 300 liters aint going far. maybe 4 months, tops.


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