Purification

MIT researchers have found yet another use for the over-achieving wonder material graphene, by making a reusable filter out of graphene oxide foam that acts like a magnet for uranium, effectively pulling the radioactive element out of drinking water.

In many arid regions, people use devices known as solar stills to extract drinkable water from seawater or tainted water. A new type of solar still is claimed to be much more effective than others, by incorporating a rotating cylinder.

Ironically, many of the places that most require water purification have the least-developed infrastructure. That's where a new filtration device comes in, as it's activated by the sun – and it works relatively quickly.

Although ozone is used to disinfect water in settings such as treatment plants, the required equipment is typically too large for use in small appliances like water coolers. A new miniaturized ozone generator, however, may be about to change that.

Evaporation is one of the most enduring methods of purifying water to make it drinkable. Now researchers in China have developed a novel device made of wood that can do just that, by employing bacteria to help build key nanostructures.

By converting liquid salt water – or tainted water – into steam, it's possible to obtain pure, clean drinking water. Doing so could soon be cheaper and easier than ever, thanks to a newly developed material.

Scientists at Japan's Nagoya University have come up with a new technology to treat contaminated water, using electrically charged nanocarbons to more effectively filter heavy metal ions from the mix.

​"Solar steaming" is a form of water purification in which sunlight is used to heat tainted water, turning it to steam which condenses back into liquid. That clean liquid is then collected as drinking water. A new system offers improved performance, and it copies the structure of the rose flower.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra have tested a new method for sterilizing water using hot bubbles of carbon dioxide, which they've found to be both effective and efficient.

​Washing the inside of a water bottle can be tricky, causing some people to wonder just how clean it really is. Well, CrazyCap is made to kill microbes by replacing a bottle's existing cap with one that shines UV light into the water. It can even be used to purify water that's collected on the go.

​When it rains heavily, even in arid places where water is scarce, the stormwater typically just runs off the streets and down the sewer drains. Thanks to a new "engineered sand," though, that road-polluted liquid could soon be cleaned up and used for drinking water.

If you spend much time backcountry hiking, chances are you're the sort of person who would find use for at least two things: a trekking pole and a water purifier. Well, PurTrek combines them both in one carbon fiber-bodied device.