The Drinkable Book is a two-in-one resource: It’s a manual filled with safe water tips (offered in a variety of languages and geared toward people who may not know their water is contaminated), that is printed on scientifically advanced filter paper, which kills deadly waterborne diseases.

According to creator WATERisLIFE, each book can provide a user with clean water for up to four years.

Students at the Integrated Innovation Institute at Carnegie Mellon University developed LUV Water, a low-cost, self-powered water purification system that uses the weight of water to rotate a motor, powering UV-LED lights. These lights kill 99.9% of waterborne pathogens, and a coarse particle filter helps maintain the device’s efficiency.

The team of engineers is also applying the technology to water bottles for a more portable solution.

In 2013, the University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) in Lima, Peru, created #AirHuerta, an innovative advertising campaign and billboard that takes moisture from the humid air, and converts it into filtered drinking water. The billboard can produce up to 26 gallons of water each day, according to Time.

Dean Kamen, perhaps best known as the inventor of the Segway and the iBot wheelchair, developed the Slingshot water purification system to save lives worldwide. Using a Stirling engine, the Slingshot boils water, creating steam, and then compresses it to turn it back into pure, distilled water. The concept mimics the way the sun evaporates rain water.

In 2011, Coca-Cola and Kamen’s company, DEKA Research and Development, sent 15 Slingshots to five schools in Ghana for trials over six months. According to Popular Science, the partners announced a goal in 2013 to place up to 2,000 units around Africa, Asia and Latin America by the end of 2015.

LifeStraw, part of international health company Vestergaard, has a line of award-winning, innovative products that allow people to filter water anywhere. The well-known classic LifeStraw, which looks like a thick straw, uses advanced hollow fiber technology to filter water, allowing users to simply suck water through it. Other products include the LifeStraw Go water bottle and the LifeStraw Family high-volume water purifier (pictured at the top of this post).

This invention doesn’t increase access to potable water, but it’s worth mentioning for its ability to help users save water with very little effort.

Engineering students at The Cooper Union college in New York City created Flush, a dual-flush toilet retrofit kit that easily converts your typical single-flush toilet to a toilet that allows users to choose a full flush or a partial flush. The concept was made to help people decrease their water consumption.

“The rest of the world is already using dual-flush toilets,” one of the creators told Live Science. “America seems to be one of last developed countries to step up to the plate and save water.”