• Question: Are you working on any materials to help supply fresh water to people in poverty? E.g. Filtering materials?

    Asked by anon-240303 to Elspeth on 9 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Elspeth Keating

      Elspeth Keating answered on 9 Mar 2020:

      Unfortunately not. Improving safe access to water is such an important research topic, the closest I am to anything like that is working with recycled materials, trying to limit the damage done by every manufacturing process – ie, stop polluting the atmosphere and the water systems in the first place.

      From a quick look online, the research seems to be separated into global water network purification – like we have in the UK – and point of use purification – where the individual would clean their own water. This Nature link https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-018-0011-0 will give you a really interesting overview of the point of use systems, as of 2018. Nature is a really well know and well regarded journal, so you can trust their information.

      Filtration is a really interesting question – especially on gases and anything with particles that you are trying to capture – think the exhaust of a car or a face mask.

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