While access to clean water is something we all take for granted, such is not the case for some people in developing countries. According to non-profit organization, Water is Life, one in five children that live in the rural areas of most third world regions die from waterborne diseases, before they turn five. In order to raise awareness of the dire situation, the organization has created numerous campaigns including a poignant video about a four-year-old living out his bucket list. However, their latest effort is going beyond that by actually helping the residents solve the problem - one page at a time! Introducing, the 'Drinkable Book'!
The Drinkable Book, a collaboration between Water is Life, New York-based advertising agency DDB and scientists from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Virginia, is the world's first book that can used to not only learn about safe water practices, but also, create drinkable H20.
That's because the book has been put together using special filter paper that is coated with silver nanoparticles that have the capability to trap the most common waterborne bacteria including cholera, E. coli, and typhoid, the three biggest causes of water-related deaths in developing nations.
To use the scientific filter, owners simply tear out a page, place it inside the designated slot in the custom filter box that accompanies the book, and pour the dirty water through it. In laboratory tests the filter, which costs just pennies to produce, was able to retain 99.99% of the bacteria, resulting in drinking water that is on par with that found in developed countries. The best part is that each filter lasts up to 30 days, and each book, contains enough pages to last four years, making the 'Drinkable Book' a cost-effective solution to save millions of lives annually.
If that is not cool enough, the book also aims to teach users about safe water drinking habits. Accordingly, each page contains beautifully printed nuggets of information like 'Water contamination is usually caused by human waste, animal waste, or garbage'. Another great thing? It is available in numerous languages!
Resources: fastcocreate.com,gizmag.com
