Texas researchers invent new cup that purifies water contaminated during natural disastersBy Angeli Gabriel, FOX Weather
August 6, 2023
Austin, Texas – A team from the University of Texas at Austin developed a mug-sized, cube-shaped device that can use battery-generated electricity to eliminate bacteria from contaminated water.
The new device is a cup intended to provide access to clean drinking water to communities whose water supply may be compromised due to disruptions from severe weather events.
“When our water infrastructure is down — no water, no gas and no electricity — we need point-of-use devices for cleaning water we can get out of ponds, streams or rivers,” said D. Emma Fan, an associate professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, who led the project. “We believe our device can someday fill that need.”
Researchers tested a 3D-printed prototype of the device by cleaning 2- to 3-ounce samples of water from a creek in Austin.
Their experiments showed that the device was able to clean 99.997% of E. coli bacteria from the water within approximately 20 minutes.
The cup-like device purifies water by using electricity. Once water is poured into the device, electricity is run through a foam-encased, “branched” electrode inside.
This electric field attracts E. coli cells to “swim” into the electrode branches, making the water clean and drinkable.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/08/06/texas-researchers-invent-cup-that-purifies-contaminated-water/
