Hydrogel tablets clean river water quickly, allowing you to drink clean water in just 1 hour

Access to clean water is a major unmet need in many parts of the world. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, USA have developed a new hydrogel tablet that promises to help in this regard. Accordingly, the prototype of this reducing tablet can disinfect 1 liter of river water within an hour.

The most common way to disinfect water is usually boiling, but this can take a lot of time and energy and is sometimes inconvenient in developing countries.

Scientists are solving the problem with devices such as solar water tanks, graphene filters and automatic chlorinators. But these devices may not be the most efficient or still require energy.

In the new study, scientists have developed a method that is relatively easy and requires no energy to run. It’s a hydrogel tablet, and simply dropping into a bucket of water kills more than 99.999% of bacteria within an hour or so. The hydrogel can then be removed without leaving residue or chemicals.

Tablets work by producing hydrogen peroxide, which combines with activated carbon particles to kill bacteria by disrupting their metabolism. The process does not produce any harmful by-products, the team emphasizes.

Hydrogel purifiers can also be used to improve other techniques such as solar distillation. These systems work by concentrating the Sun’s heat to evaporate the water and collect it in another container, thereby separating the pollutants from the water.

Such devices can become clogged with bacteria, but the team says hydrogels can prevent that.

The researchers reveal that, although the trials have so far been small-scale, the hydrogel research is entirely scalable. The materials and processes are inexpensive and simple. In addition, they can be molded into all sorts of shapes and sizes to suit every occasion.

Refer to Newatlas