Heavy charge against water germs

Researchers are developing novel filter systems made of composite materials such as ceramic granules with a copper nanocoating as depicted here (electron microscopy, colored) Image: Sena Yüzbasi / Empa - Removing pathogens from drinking water is especially difficult when the germs are too tiny to be caught by conventional filters. Researchers at Empa and Eawag are developing new materials and processes to free water from pathogenic microorganisms such as viruses. Water is life, biology teaches us. Reality teaches us something different: Water contaminated with pathogens causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year in places where water treatment is lacking or poorly functioning. To put an end to this, the availability of clean water for all mankind has been included in the United Nations (UN) Global Sustainability Agenda since 2015. In accordance with this goal, Empa researchers, in collaboration with their colleagues at Eawag, are developing new materials and technologies to remove pathogens from drinking water, which until now could hardly be eliminated with conventional measures, or only with expensive and complex processes. The researchers are aiming at the smallest of germs: Tiny pathogens that - unlike the currently circulating coronavirus Sars-Cov-2 - are spreading via contaminated water and thus cause various water-borne diseases such as polio, diarrhea and hepatitis.