FRANCE • The Safe Water Cube is a water-purification system.

Some 20 of these boxes have already been installed in Morocco, India and Haiti.

The 1.2 cubic m stainless steel container has five different filters, including sand and carbon. It makes all surface water - even muddy water - drinkable, says its creator, French engineer Jean-Paul Augereau.

It also destroys "all the viruses and bacteria responsible for diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera and hepatitis, without destroying the minerals in the water", purifying up to 1,000 litres per hour without electrical energy.

The fountain costs 5,500 euros (S$8,600) and is financed by NGOs, private donations, local businesses and authorities.

According to the United Nations, 10 per cent of the world's population lacks access to safe drinking water, with many having to travel miles to find a safe water source.

Every day, around 3,000 children die from diarrhoeal diseases linked to polluted water.