Sanchis, Adrian GarridoPashley, RichardNinham, Barry2020-04-162020-04-162059-7037http://hdl.handle.net/1885/203213The availability of clean water is a major problem facing the world. In particular, the cost and destruction caused by viruses in water remains an unresolved challenge and poses a major limitation on the use of recycled water. Here, we develop an environmentally friendly technology for sterilising water. The technology bubbles heated un-pressurised carbon dioxide or exhaust gases through wastewater in a bubble column, effectively destroying both bacteria and viruses. The process is extremely cost effective, with no concerning by-products, and has already been successfully scaled-up industrially.We thank the University of New South Wales, along with The Australian Research Council (ARC grant number DP160100198) and the Australian Government (Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship for the first author).application/pdfen-AU© 2019 The Author(s)http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/2019-02-0110.1038/s41545-018-0027-52019-12-19Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License