Treatment of water using low cost natural materials

Abstract

Water scarcity has been listed by the World Economic Forum as the largest global risk in terms of potential impact over the next decade. One-third of the global population live under conditions of severe water scarcity. Technically, there is a sufficient amount of freshwater on a global scale, for humanity to get by. However, due to unequal distribution and lack of accessibility, humanity is facing a water crisis. So, in order to avoid a water deficient future, it has become essential for every country all around the globe to take a step towards water conservation. Apart from water scarcity one major area of concern is water quality. Lack of clean drinking water has put billions of people’s health at risk Diseases like malaria, cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid fever and many other diseases are spread because of the consumption of contaminated water. That is why treatment of water before consumption is necessary. In view of all the above parameters, we are proposing a portable as well as affordable water filter which is ready to filter water on the go. The filter will consist of layers of different filtering media. These filtering materials are required to be natural and affordable. So the target of this project will be basically rural areas. Natural substitutes will be used as a filtering medium which are cheap in cost or which may be a by-product of any agricultural or manufacturing process. For example, coconut shells, rice husk, bagasse, sand and gravel. The filtration system will be of gravitational type and the backwashing process will be of pressure type. An optional pressure pump can be provided with the device to aid backwashing. As far as the disinfection of water is concerned, chlorination is by far the most suitable method of disinfecting water of pathogens. Provisions can be made to supply optimum dosage of chlorine and if residual chlorine is already present in water, then neutralizing it for drinking.