Filtration for Hydration

Thirsty? How ‘bout a nice glass of. . . somewhat cloudy water?

This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.

Over two billion people worldwide don’t have access to clean drinking water! Better, cheaper filtration is needed.

Enter Meihui Jiang and team from Northeast Forestry University in China.

They developed a new filtration system using hydrogel, a sponge-like water-based film. They sampled muddy water, river water, and water containing tiny plastic pieces. The waters were collected in syringes and each pushed through the filter to trap contaminants.

Results? The hydrogel filtered out nearly one hundred percent of the contaminants. This makes it more effective than current filtration techniques! Even better, the filters are biodegradable and are effective for up to thirty uses!

My selfies might be hashtag no filter, but my water is hashtag YES filter!


Reference: Jiang, M., Jing, C., Lei, C., Han, X., Wu, Y., Ling, S., Zhang, Y., Li, Q., Yu, H., Liu, S., Li, J., Chen, W., & Yu, G. (2024). A bio-based nanofibre hydrogel filter for sustainable water purification. Nature Sustainability, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01264-9