There are so many problems in the world that often seem insurmountable. War, poverty, orphan care and world hunger, just to name a few. One such problem that has often discouraged people with its magnitude is the lack of clean water for all people.
What I really appreciate about Theresa Dankovich is that instead of just throwing more money at solutions that work somewhat, but may not be the best, she dedicated her time to coming up with something truly revolutionary. Enter; the Drinkable Book.
Utilizing paper coated in silver nano-particles Theresa created a book comprised of filtering pages. Each page acts as a “scientific coffee filter” purifying out 99% of the bacteria resulting in water as pure as the tap water in our own country. Each book costs only pennies to produce, each filter lasts for 30 days and one book is capable of providing clean water for four years. This innovation is going to revolutionize the water purifying process, being by far the cheapest option out there.
But one of the most unique aspects of the “Drinkable Book” is that on each page/filter is printed information about how to keep one’s water clean. Knowledge that many of us take for granted, such as keeping trash and feces away from your water source.
To see the Drinkable Book in action, watch the short video below. It is truly incredible.
This is an amazing innovation, not necessarily a new field, but without a doubt a new way of thinking about it. and providing it to people.
Easier than a Life straw or other filtered water bottles?…Maybe, I guess we’ll find out.
I wonder how reliable the filter aspect of the paper is. Some of those viruses and DNA strands are pretty small (polio is only 30 nm in diameter!)
I think it would be cool to eventually print actual books on this stuff so it serves as entertainment as well as life-saving technology. I mean, who doesn’t want to combine those two things!?
I appreciate this new design so much. This past year I partnered with an organization in NH called “RAIN” (Real Action for International Need) on a mission trip to Haiti to physically rebuild 2 water wells in Haiti. One of their primary goal’s is to provide clean water to struggling nations. Although, instead of just digging wells and providing a filtration system, they spend a few days educating the community about clean water. Similarly to the Drinkable Book, RAIN provides booklets to the members of the community to explain the importance of clean water to prevent diseases.
My question about the Drinkable Book would be what countries they currently provide these filters for, and are the booklets explained or written in the native tongue of the countries they are distributed to? This idea is revolutionary in the sense that the filter combined with critical information is produced for only pennies. Thank you for sharing! I will certainly pass this information along to my connections with RAIN.
What an awesome design. Clean water is an issue that affects so many but seems so hard to solve.