Dr Teri Dankovich, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, developed and tested the technology for the book over several years, working at McGill University in Canada and then at the University of Virginia.
"It's directed towards communities in developing countries," Dr Dankovich said, noting that 663 million people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water.
"All you need to do is tear out a paper, put it in a simple filter holder and pour water into it from rivers, streams, wells etc and out comes clean water - and dead bacteria as well," she told BBC news.
The bugs absorb silver or copper ions - depending on the nanoparticles used - as they percolate through the page.
"Ions come off the surface of the nanoparticles, and those are absorbed by the microbes," Dr Dankovich explained.
According to her tests, one page can clean up to 100 litres of water. A book could filter one person's water supply for four years.