<p>Time to taste toilet water! A new invention, funded by Bill Gates, aims to turn used toilet water fit for drinking.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Manchester University's Sarah Haigh, an expert in nanotechnology, says the invention could make waste water from toilets safe to drink.<br /><br />The innovation, which has been funded by billionaire Bill Gates, could transform the lives of millions of people in the developing countries. The researchers plan to have a prototype ready to demonstrate by 2013.<br /><br />Haigh believes a new range of materials could extract energy from human waste.<br /><br />Although the result may not be bottled mineral water, the researcher says the results could be the difference between life-and-death in regions without clean water, the Daily Mail reported.<br /><br />"There has been a lot of research into biofuels. There is a lot of energy already present in human waste. Nano-scale materials mean that you can harvest the hydrogen and turn it into hydrozene, which is basically rocket fuel," Haigh said.<br /><br />The expert, from Manchester University's school of materials, believes that a scaffold device holding a mixture of bacteria and tiny metal nano-particles will react with the water to extract useful hydrogen, with the remainder filtered again to produce clean water.<br /><br />Haigh, who working with scientists at Imperial College London and Durham University, was given an initial USD 100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.<br /><br />Their idea for an inexpensive fuel-producing, water-cleaning device for the developing world, beat more than 2,000 other proposals.<br /><br />And the group stand to receive a further USD 1 million from the Gates next year if they can demonstrate the chemical reactions they propose can actually work.<br /><br />The Microsoft founder, one of the world's richest men, has promised to sink his fortune on combating worldwide poverty.<br /><br />"The phrase 'off to spend a penny' is used in polite society to refer to a visit to the lavatory. We plan to turn this essential everyday outgoing into an investment by developing novel materials that convert natural waste into a useable resource," Haigh said.</p>
<p>Time to taste toilet water! A new invention, funded by Bill Gates, aims to turn used toilet water fit for drinking.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Manchester University's Sarah Haigh, an expert in nanotechnology, says the invention could make waste water from toilets safe to drink.<br /><br />The innovation, which has been funded by billionaire Bill Gates, could transform the lives of millions of people in the developing countries. The researchers plan to have a prototype ready to demonstrate by 2013.<br /><br />Haigh believes a new range of materials could extract energy from human waste.<br /><br />Although the result may not be bottled mineral water, the researcher says the results could be the difference between life-and-death in regions without clean water, the Daily Mail reported.<br /><br />"There has been a lot of research into biofuels. There is a lot of energy already present in human waste. Nano-scale materials mean that you can harvest the hydrogen and turn it into hydrozene, which is basically rocket fuel," Haigh said.<br /><br />The expert, from Manchester University's school of materials, believes that a scaffold device holding a mixture of bacteria and tiny metal nano-particles will react with the water to extract useful hydrogen, with the remainder filtered again to produce clean water.<br /><br />Haigh, who working with scientists at Imperial College London and Durham University, was given an initial USD 100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.<br /><br />Their idea for an inexpensive fuel-producing, water-cleaning device for the developing world, beat more than 2,000 other proposals.<br /><br />And the group stand to receive a further USD 1 million from the Gates next year if they can demonstrate the chemical reactions they propose can actually work.<br /><br />The Microsoft founder, one of the world's richest men, has promised to sink his fortune on combating worldwide poverty.<br /><br />"The phrase 'off to spend a penny' is used in polite society to refer to a visit to the lavatory. We plan to turn this essential everyday outgoing into an investment by developing novel materials that convert natural waste into a useable resource," Haigh said.</p>