A report on the Quartz website, says that it’s estimated (by water.org) that up to 358 million people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have reliable access to clean drinking water, but researchers have devised a book on water safety whose pages can be used as a filter.
Trials done in 25 contaminated water sites in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Haiti, and Bangladesh showed the book, which contains tiny particles of copper and silver, could eliminate over 99% of bacteria, according to results of the project unveiled at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting that began on August 16th.
This technology, where the metal particles act as strong oxidising agents, is already in use as anti-bacterial treatment in underwear and other textile products. As an example, see this.