Is This Drinkable Book The Answer To Our Clean Water Issues?

Books were always known as man's great tool for knowledge, but this book is also a great tool for producing clean water. Meet the drinkable book: an innovative device from the nonprofit organization Water is Life, that looks (and even reads) like a regular book that details the importance of clean water. But this book also acts as a water filtration system, purifying the water in many places like undeveloped countries in Asia and Africa, where the water can be toxic.

Water is Life teamed up with scientists from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Virginia to produce this device which basically acts like a high-tech coffee filter, and costs pennies to produce, making it a cheap alternative for people in developing countries who have little to no access to clean water. Each page is capable of cleaning up to 100 liters of water, or approximately a 30-day supply.

"It should be something that's widely used," said head researcher Theresa Dankovitch in an interview with designer Brian Gartside. "It doesn't require power and it's very intuitive."

Even though it can be compared to a filter, according to Wired, it's more like poison for the poisons found in water. The pages contain silver ions, which are absorbed by the harmful bacteria growing in the water that eventually die as a result. 

Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi