A schoolboy has created a cheap way to purify water for millions of people

The solution turned out to be unexpectedly simple - in the form of a "tea bag".

The idea belongs to a schoolboy, Vik Tan, who participated in the study as an intern in the research team. He became the first author of the paper published in a scientific journal.

Details

Arsenic is a toxic element that often finds its way into groundwater. It is estimated that more than 200 million people worldwide are at risk of poisoning, especially in Asian countries.

Usually, expensive technologies such as reverse osmosis are required to purify water. These are not available in many regions.

Researchers have come up with an alternative: sachets that work like a filter. They can simply be dropped into the water, as when brewing tea.

The sachets are made of cellulose and contain:

• iron oxide nanoparticles
• crushed eggshells

These materials effectively bind arsenic ions.

Experiments have shown that:

• one sachet removes more than 90 per cent of arsenic
• in some cases up to 98%
• water can be purified to safe levels according to WHO standards
• the cost of purification is about 7 cents per litre

The sachets can be reused up to five times, although the effectiveness gradually decreases.

Why it matters

Arsenic in water has been linked to serious diseases including cancer and developmental disorders.

The new solution:

• is cheap and accessible
• does not require complex infrastructure
• can be applied in rural and poor regions

This makes it a potentially scalable solution to a global problem.

Background

The problem of arsenic contamination in water is particularly acute for countries with underdeveloped water treatment systems, such as Bangladesh and India. Previously, such technologies have remained expensive and difficult to access.

Source

The study is published in the journal ACS Omega (2026). The work was done with the participation of a school student researcher and scientists from the American Chemical Society.