Water

The Mediterranean is getting hotter and drier, pushing scientists to look for water even in the air itself. A German team has now scaled up a porous material that does exactly that, even when the air feels bone-dry.

Scientists have created a portable water purifier that works simply by shaking it for three seconds and setting it to float in water. It could be a breakthrough device for emergency situations, and it’s estimated to cost less than $25 to produce.

Like me, you probably drank out of the hose when you were a kid, maybe even straight from the river ... then you learned about bacteria, viruses, got Montezuma's Revenge – or worse – from contaminated water and prefer it to be filtered now.

Katadyn has launched a state-of-the-art modular outdoor water filter system that uses a combination of three sophisticated filtration processes. The Explorer Water Filter and Purifier Series is serious professional expedition-quality gear.

Imagine a device using an energy source the size of planet Earth, and offering nearly limitless electricity with no ecologically-devastating mining required to get it. Science fiction? A lie from Big Battery? No – it’s real, and it’s the ocean.

California-based startup Vital Lyfe says its first product, a portable battery-powered filtration system, can provide safe drinking water from any source on demand – including seawater. Expect as much as 12 gallons per hour, with no setup time.

Fountains are all very well and good, but … they have a way of always staying in the same place, in the same configuration. Arivia is out to change that, with fleets of synchronized illuminated aquatic drones that shoot out water while playing music.

Neat screw-together kit uses Grayl titanium water purifier to create a Seattle-style coffee stop anywhere in the world. The Coffee Press for GeoPress Ti is available now with or without a titanium cook lid.

MIT researchers have found a way to use the mechanical vibrations of sound waves to shake water molecules free from a storage medium. The breakthrough significantly speeds up the process of harvesting drinking water from thin air.

Looking to best other squeezable filter bottles, the Oassay FlexFlow uses a compact filter to remove tiny viruses, bacteria, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and even fluoride. The bottle passes water at drinkable flow rates for seamless hydration.

Giant solidified masses of fat, grease, and other waste threaten to clog sewer lines and cause huge spillages in cities worldwide. Researchers at RMIT have developed two novel ways to prevent these blocks of waste from forming.

We know Lifestraw best for lightweight, ultraportable water filter and purification products aimed at backcountry use, but its all-new Escape is a different beast. The jug supplies groups with over 5 gallons of clean drinking water per fill-up.