Issue (WIWE) status: Submitted, Unpublished

Wild Card's progress: Fully-fledged

The source of this Wild Card: 
Scientific American. December 2010. 10 World Changing Ideas

Likelihood timeframe and scenario features : 
now-2015

Wild Card's description: 

On in six people lacks access to clean water worldwide making diarrheal illness the leading cause of death globally. Novel materials promise better access to clean water around the world. Researchers have recently developed mobile water filters that can be manufactured for less than a penny. The technology is being tested by the South African Bureau of Standards, after which the researchers plan to dole it out to communities in need.