A team of scientists has come up with a new technology to purify water and make it drinkable, by using natural materials.
The method, reached by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, relies on the use of pine tree branches as a natural material for water purification.
Regarding this technology and its validity, Maria Tabkova, a researcher in the Dynamic Research Laboratory at the Federal University of Siberia, told “Sputnik”: “The world suffers from a shortage of safe drinking water, which is one of the prominent problems in developing countries, and according to the United Nations 2.2 million people die every year.” General due to diseases caused by the lack of safe drinking water. ”
She added, “There are many technologies related to water purification in the global market, but they have some disadvantages. In addition to systems that use chlorine as a basic material for sterilization, they are considered good as they are very expensive.”
Tabkova commented on the American technique published in Nature Communications, which showed that by using a piece of pine wood with a specific mechanism, water can be purified by up to 99 percent.
“The xylem filter effectively removes biological contaminants and sediments, making the water more transparent.”
According to the study’s authors, the tissue of pine and ginkgo trees is an inexpensive material to filter water, especially in rural areas.
On the mechanism of using the bark of these trees, Tabkova explained: “The branches or tree trunks are cleaned of the bark and cut to the required size, to be treated thermally in addition to ethanol, and then subjected to drying.”
“This treatment process prevents damage to the walls of the trachea, through which water moves,” she added.
On the type of conifers that can be used in Russia to carry out the purification process, Tabkova said, that Scottish pine and black, in addition to Scotch spruce and Sakhalin spruce are best.
It is reported that the prototype that was manufactured using this technology was able to purify a liter of water in an hour.