Sound Solution to the Shortage of Clean Water

From money.cnn.com

Here's a sci-fi solution for an age-old problem that leaves 1.1 billion people without access to clean water: Beam ultrasound waves into polluted water, blowing up the cellular walls and carbonbonds of contaminants. What's left is a cool drink of fresh H2O.

Filters and chemicals are normally used to purify dirty water, but researchers are experimenting with ultrasound technology as a cheaper alternative. Ultrasound waves have already been used to break up sewage in sanitation systems. Now that the probes that produce the sound waves are getting more powerful, however, scientists are retooling the devices to decontaminate large tanks of water, a process called sonolysis.

The goal is twofold. First, portable sonolysis machines could be deployed to isolated villages in developing countries. In urban areas, meanwhile, sonolysis could treat water tainted with industrial pollution. Scientists like Villanova University's Rominder Suri are studying how sound waves can break down chemicals into less harmful components, detoxifying wastewater.

How cool is that? I wonder how small they portable sonolysis machines could be. Like, small enough that you could take one camping? If that's the case it'd mean that a consumer version could be sold to subsidize distribution of full-size versions to nations struggling to keep their citizens supplied with drinkable water. Definitely a super cool way to use technology and consumerism to aid humanitarian projects.