NGTU: Water Treatment Filter

History

2025: Product Announcement

In April 2025, it became known that the engineers of the Novosibirsk State Technical University (NSTU) presented a unique filter for water treatment in the field. All components of which are made using 3D printing technology. The development is designed for the military and allows you to effectively clean water from any source thanks to a special biogel-based filter element.

According to TASS, the filter element is created on the basis of chitosan - a substance released from the shells of crayfish. This material has high sorption efficiency of heavy metals, toxic protein molecules and various unpleasant odors, making it ideal for water purification in extreme conditions.

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Фото: NGTU

The head of the youth laboratory of reverse engineering and prototyping of NSTU Aleksei Alimov said that the filter design was significantly redesigned and simplified. The length of the device is increased to 68 mm, which allows you to use more filtering media. In addition, engineers have increased the distance between the grids between which the filter media is located to increase the strength of the structure.

The upper part of the filter is equipped with a special plug on which a nipple cork is worn, similar to those used on sports bottles. This solution simplifies the design and avoids printing unnecessary parts on a 3D printer.

To make the filter case, which is inserted into the neck of the bottle, the laboratory staff used special food plastic. Tests of the 3D-printed filter confirmed its complete tightness - the design does not allow leaks.

An important advantage of the development is the possibility of repeated use by changing the bag with the filter medium, which is placed inside the structure. The biogel bag has a mesh structure and is designed to treat five liters of water.^[1]

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