If you fear that your tap water may not be ideal for drinking, or if you are in the great outdoors and running low on clean drinking water, this is the instructable for you! Learn how to distill water in your own kitchen with just a pot and some ice. No Laboratory or fancy equipment required. This method can also be easily adapted if you are in the wilderness.

We look at how chemical filtration can be used to remove contaminants from water. Potassium permanganate is used as the contaminant. First, we try to remove it using physical filtration, with filter paper and a funnel. This does not work. We then add activated charcoal, which the potassium permanganate bonds with. When the contaminated water is filtered again only the water passes through, so the contaminant has been removed by chemical filtration.

A water purification filter created by Australian scientists has pipes just 10,000th the width of a human hair and could provide relief to millions of people without access to safe drinking water.

About 780 million people—a tenth of the world’s population—do not have access to clean drinking water. Water laced with contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, lead and arsenic claims millions of lives each year. But an inexpensive device that effectively clears such contaminants from water may help solve this problem.

Filtration systems treat water by passing it through beds of granular materials (e.g. sand) that remove and retain contaminants. Conventional, direct, slow sand, and diatomaceous earth filtration systems all do a good job of removing most protozoa, bacteria, and viruses (if coagulation is used). Bag and cartridge filters generally do not remove any viruses and few bacteria

When we turn our taps on, we naturally assume the water is safe to drink. This is because it is treated before it is supplied to our homes. In some parts of the country, fluoride is added to the water supply but this is controversial. Water can also be filtered at home – to help improve its taste and quality. In parts of the world where water is more scarce, sea water is distilled to provide drinking water.

Too much of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. Engineer Michael Pritchard did something about it — inventing the portable Lifesaver filter, which can make the most revolting water drinkable in seconds. An amazing demo from TEDGlobal 2009.

Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) is another form of clarification process that relies on flotation of floc particles to the surface instead of gravity sedimentation. It is suited to particular quality raw water streams – generally low turbidity, coloured waters which would otherwise be more difficult to treat by sedimentation. The DAF process is also particularly suited to the treatment of nutrient-rich reservoir waters that may contain heavy algal blooms.

Sedimentation is recommended as simple pre-treatment of water prior to application of other purification treatments such as filtration and disinfection methods. It removes undesirable small particulate suspended matters (sand, silt and clay) and some biological contaminants from water under the influence of gravity. The longer the water is sedimented, the more the suspended solids and pathogens will settle to the bottom of the container. Adding special chemicals or some natural coagulants can accelerate sedimentation. Three common chemicals used are aluminium sulphate, polyaluminium chloride (also known as PAC or liquid alum) and ferric sulphate. 'PUR' is a powder product containing both coagulants and disinfectant. Some native plants like prickly pear cactus, Moringa seeds, broad beans and Fava beans have all been traditionally used as natural coagulant to help sediment water in a number of countries in Africa and Latin America.

Sedimentation is the process of depositing sediment. It is a treatment process in which the velocity of the water is lowered below the suspension velocity and the suspended particles settle out of the water due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration or electromagnetism. Sedimentation has been used to treat wastewater for millennia. Most water treatment plants include sedimentation in their treatment processes.

A scientist at Michigan Technological University (MTU) has discovered a simple way to turn muddy water — such as water gathered from rivers, streams and boreholes — into drinkable water by using table salt.

Water is essential to human life, and it's no mystery that the sun plays an important role in the water cycle on our planet, as water moves from clouds to rain to rivers, lakes and oceans, and back again. Scientists have discovered several ways to use the sun's energy and the processes of evaporation and condensation to help sanitize water and make it safe to drink.