凈水之書

在水污染越來越嚴(yán)重的今天，能否喝上潔凈的水是一個嚴(yán)峻的問題。與此同時，凈水工序之復(fù)雜，造價之高，又遠(yuǎn)非普通民眾所能承受。幸而，科學(xué)家們研制出了一種神奇的凈水設(shè)備，它有著書的構(gòu)造，更有著凈水的功效。

In developing countries， clean drinking water is not a given1）. According to the World Health Organization， every year around 3.4 million people die from water-related illnesses. Accessing clean water often means waiting in line for a truck to haul it to you， boiling it （an energy-hungry option） or running it through a ceramic2） filter （expensive）. But the truth is， more often than not people don't clean it at all.

A new project from the Water Is Life organization is looking to simplify the purification process with a high-design solution. The Drinkable Book， as it's called， looks like something you'd keep on your coffee table， but it's actually a full-on3） water purification system.

Each page is its own little filter that can clean up to 100 liters of water （that's around a 30-day supply）. This means each book can provide a single person with up to four years of clean water. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Virginia developed a special kind of paper that's coated in silver nanoparticles4）， which kill bacteria. "Some socks use silver nanoparticles to prevent fungus5） from growing on athletes' feet，" explains chemist Theresa Dankovich， the project's lead scientist who has been researching this process since 2008.

The Drinkable Book isn't a water filter， exactly. While most water filters trap harmful content， the Drinkable Book works a little differently. As dirty water passes through the paper， bacteria absorbs the silver ions6） which causes it to die. Think of it like poison for the poison found in your water.

To make the paper， Dankovich soaks it in a bath of silver ions and a chemical reduction7） agent8）. From there she drains9） the bath and heats the paper at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes. After the paper is full of silver nanoparticles it gets rinsed10） and dried again. The result is a rust11） orange color you see in the book.

Making the book is clearly a science-heavy process， but last summer Brian Gartside， a designer at DDB12）， contacted Dankovich after finding her research online. He wanted to use the scientist's work and turn it into something that could be easily used in developing countries. "At the time， the whole thing was much clunkier13），" Dankovich explains. "Not something you'd see in a fancy video."

Gartside took the paper Dankovich was making and designed a system around it. In an effort to educate the people using the book， each page comes printed with guidelines and tips for safe water consumption. It's gorgeous.endprint

So how practical is something like this？ Quite， says Dankovich. First， the paper and chemicals needed to produce this is cheaper than most other water-filtration mechanisms. "It should be something that's widely used，" she says. "It doesn't require power and it's very intuitive14）." The team is planning to field test15） some form of the book later this year and are looking to have a commercially viable16） product ready for 2015.

在發(fā)展中國家，潔凈的飲用水并不是理所當(dāng)然就有的。據(jù)世界衛(wèi)生組織統(tǒng)計，每年約有340萬人死于與水有關(guān)的疾病。想要獲取潔凈的水，通常意味著先排隊等候卡車把水運送過來，再將其煮沸（這種做法極需能量）或用陶瓷過濾器（價格不菲）對其進(jìn)行過濾。然而事實卻是，人們往往根本不對水進(jìn)行凈化處理。

“水即生命”組織進(jìn)行的一個新項目希望用一種高級設(shè)計方案對凈水工序進(jìn)行簡化。這種名為“凈水之書”的設(shè)備看起來就像你擺放在咖啡桌上的物件，可它實際上卻是一個凈水系統(tǒng)，具有凈水系統(tǒng)的所有特征。

凈水之書的每一頁都是一個小過濾器，最多可凈化100升水（大約夠用30天）。這意味著每本書可為一個人提供長達(dá)四年的潔凈飲用水。卡內(nèi)基梅隆大學(xué)和弗吉尼亞大學(xué)的研究人員研制出一種特別的紙張，其外面包裹著可以殺菌的銀納米粒子。“有的襪子使用銀納米粒子來防止運動員腳上滋長真菌。”化學(xué)家特雷莎·丹科維奇解釋道。她是這個項目的首席科學(xué)家，從2008年起就一直在研究凈水工序。

準(zhǔn)確地說，凈水之書并不是濾水器。大多數(shù)濾水器都會將有害物質(zhì)濾出，而凈水之書的工作原理稍微有些不同。當(dāng)污水從書頁中通過時，細(xì)菌會吸收銀離子而死。你可以把它看作一種毒藥，用來殺死你飲用水中的有毒物質(zhì)。

為了制作這種紙張，丹科維奇先將紙浸入盛有銀離子和一種化學(xué)還原劑的容器中，然后將容器中的液體排盡，并用約200華氏度（譯注：約93攝氏度）將紙加熱幾分鐘。當(dāng)紙完全被銀納米粒子覆蓋后，將其沖洗干凈，再次烘干。最后就得到了你在凈水之書中看到的那種橙赭色書頁。

制作凈水之書的過程顯然極具科研色彩。不過在去年夏天（編注：本文寫于2014年5月），DDB傳媒集團(tuán)一位名叫布賴恩·加特賽德的設(shè)計師在網(wǎng)上發(fā)現(xiàn)丹科維奇的研究之后，與她取得了聯(lián)系。加特賽德想要利用她的研究成果，將其開發(fā)成易于在發(fā)展中國家使用的設(shè)備。“那時，這整套凈水設(shè)備比現(xiàn)在的要笨重許多，”丹科維奇解釋說，“并不是你在某個炫酷的視頻中所看到的那樣。”

加特賽德拿來丹科維奇正在研制的紙張，圍繞其設(shè)計了一套凈水系統(tǒng)。為了教人們使用凈水之書，該書的每一頁都印有安全飲水的指導(dǎo)方法和建議。這太棒了！

那么這種凈水設(shè)備的可行性如何呢？非常可行，丹科維奇說。首先，生產(chǎn)該設(shè)備所用的紙張及化學(xué)藥品比大多數(shù)其他濾水裝置都要便宜。“這種設(shè)備應(yīng)廣泛應(yīng)用，”她說，“它不需要動力，而且易于理解和使用。”該研究團(tuán)隊打算在今年晚些時候?qū)羲畷哪撤N模型進(jìn)行現(xiàn)場試驗，他們希望具備商業(yè)可行性的相關(guān)產(chǎn)品能夠在2015年成形。

1. given [?ɡ?vn] n. 理所當(dāng)然的事實

2. ceramic [s??r?m?k] adj. 陶瓷的

3. full-on： 最典型的；具有一應(yīng)特征的

4. nanoparticle [?n?n??pɑ?t?kl] n. 納米粒子

5. fungus [?f??ɡ?s] n. 霉菌；真菌

6. ion [?a??n] n. 【化】離子

7. reduction [r??d?k?n] n. 【化】還原（作用）

8. agent [?e?d??nt] n. 劑；作用劑

9. drain [dre?n] vt. 慢慢排盡……的水（或液體）

10. rinse [r?ns] vt. 清洗，沖洗

11. rust [r?st] adj. 紅褐色的

12. DDB： DDB傳媒集團(tuán)，全稱為DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc.，是世界范圍內(nèi)的營銷傳媒網(wǎng)絡(luò)，隸屬于世界上最大的廣告控股公司宏盟集團(tuán)（Omnicom Group Inc.）。

13. clunky [?kl??ki] adj. <口> <主美>笨重的

14. intuitive [?n?tju??t?v] adj. 易于理解和使用的

15. field test： 現(xiàn)場試驗；實地試驗

16. viable [?va??bl] adj. 可行的endprint