Book’s Pages Double As Filters To Provide Clean Water For Up To Four Years
Dubbed the 'drinkable book' - could this be the answer to the devastating affects of polluted water?
According to water.org, “More than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related causes,” and, “Nearly all deaths, 99 percent, occur in the developing world.” The problem is a continual battle for experts trying and testing all day everyday to come up with affordable and efficient means of decreasing that devastating figure.
Social creativity agency DDB New York and charity campaigners WATERisLIFE may have just the trick. Together they are launching ‘The Drinkable Book,’ the first-ever Manual that has two functions; teaching those in danger about safe water tips and physically acting as a tool to kill deadly waterborne diseases.
On each page there are written facts and tips explaining the risks of consuming water rife with diseases such as cholera, E.coli and typhoid. The second purpose for the book is where it gets interesting. Created by McGill University & University of Virginia chemist, Dr. Theresa Dankovich, each sheet of paper has a specially designed feature that works like a ‘scientific coffee filter.’ The pages are coated with silver nanoparticles, which have the ability to kill the deadly diseases.
The book is designed to work in three simple steps; tear along the perforation, slide the filter into the 3D printed case (the book’s packaging), pour the contaminated water through and the result is drinkable water. And this drinkable water sees a reduction of more than 99.99% in the amount of bacteria which is comparable to water in the US. Each book contains 24 usable pages with two filters each that last for 30 days. In total, the book can provide a single person with clean water for up to four years.