Pentagon-backed researchers have come up with a novel new way to purify water: Just add bacteria.

Scientists at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) have successfully designed portable, efficient, bacteria-based water treatment units. Two of the devices are on their way to Army bases in Afghanistan, and the research team is in talks with the Pentagon about sending a working prototype to help relief efforts in Haiti.

The systems, called “bio-reactors,” clean putrid water using the same bacteria you’d find in a handful of dirt. The bacteria filter the water, then eat up the sludge that’s a common byproduct of waste treatment. It's all done in less than 24 hours, and from devices smaller than a standard shipping crate.

To put that into perspective, an average waste-water treatment process can take up to a month, and produces toxic sludge as an inevitable byproduct.

Researchers isolated a set of bacterium to do the filtering, and they’ve now patented that combination. The Army has already ordered six units, and now that the team has the bacterial combination mastered, they’re confident that the project can quickly be scaled to hundreds of units – assuming the Defense Department keeps up the funding.

They probably will, given the ongoing logistical challenges the military’s been up against in Afghanistan, where troops need convoys of water trucks because of a lack of purified local sources. The Marine Corps' Marine and Energy Assessment Team (MEAT) estimates that a better option for water purification could mean 50 fewer military trucks on the roads, according to InsideDefense.com. Less dependency on fuel would add up: Right now, a single soldier in Afghanistan uses 22 gallons of fuel per day.

But war zones are only one application for the bacteria-based sludge removers. Natural disaster sites would benefit immeasurably from portable, low-cost, quick water treatment systems. In Haiti, one of the biggest challenges has been coping with contaminated water. Dan Davis, SHSU’s associate vice president for research administration and technology commercialization, said that a single unit could purify a trench latrine within a single day, and then provide a constant stream of clean water.

Yesterday, Davis got a call from his contact at the Department of Defense, asking if SHSU researchers would be willing to send their prototype for immediate use in Haiti. He’s waiting to hear back, and says he looks forward to the day when hundreds of the units are readily available.

“From cruise ships to oil tankers to dangerous war terrain, these things can go anywhere,” he told Danger Room. “Ideally, we’d have these ready to roll out for natural disasters. Something as simple as clean water could easily save thousands of lives.”

Photo: Department of Defense