Abstract

The provision of clean water is an important issue to solve and there is no one solution,
thankfully. Different areas have different problems and resources and no one solution can be
applied to all. In developed countries, water is often pumped from a nearby lake or from
groundwater and extensively treated in several stages in large plants to ensure safety. Water is
commonly filtrated, sometimes in several stages with chemicals added to completely
eliminate the smallest particles of pollutants and to speed up the process. Chemicals are then
filtered out again. Filtration in various forms is so far the only method to clean water, apart
from UV-purification, whether it be a traditional slow sand filter or a reverse osmosis system
or a modern, large scale filter in a water-purification plant.

In developing countries such large-scale infrastructure does not exist, thus polluted water is a
big problem. Charities are very active in combating this problem, especially in rural areas,
helping villages to install sanitation facilities and groundwater pumps or water purification
technology. The focus of this paper will be on smaller, household systems for purifying water,
looking at existing appropriate technology for purifying water in developing countries.
Background is also provided on water, the diseases associated with unsafe water and their
effect on a population.

Research Question
What are the current resources available and issues associated with acquiring clean drinking
water, and what is therefore the best method for purifying drinking water in rural and urban
areas, from the point of view of low cost, efficiency and environmental sustainability?

1
 Contents

Abstract 1
Research Question 1
Introduction 3
Water 4
What is clean water? 4
Water-related disease 8
Cholera 12
Water purification 10
Filtration 11
Chemical disinfection 12
Reverse osmosis 14
Systems and developments 15
SODIS-Solar Disinfection 15
LifeStraw 16
Nano-filter 17
Ceramic water filter 18
Bio-sand filter 18
Kanchan Arsenic filter 20
Conclusion 29

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Introduction
One might think that adequate water and sanitation are not much of a problem, compared to
war, natural disasters and global warming. After all, water exists in plentiful supply; one just
has to go and get it. That is true. Although less than 1% of the water on this blue planet is
fresh water suitable for human use and a lot of that is inaccessible, frozen in polar ice caps,
the water we do have is enough to support everyone. Then why does not everybody have
enough water? The water we do have is unevenly distributed across our planet. Some people
have much more water than they need; lots of rain settling in rivers and lakes, sometimes even
harming us when there are floods. And some people do not have enough; in dry regions there
is little rainfall. The rain that does fall quickly gets absorbed back by the thirsty atmosphere
and in dry soil there are not enough plants to bind water. Dry ground is also often
impermeable, causing precious water to run off.

Climate change furthers these discrepancies. When global temperatures rise climate becomes
more extreme, increasing climatic extremes and causing more natural disasters. Polar ice caps
melt and precious fresh water is lost into the salt sea, sea levels rise and threaten to cover
many coastal towns. Water trapped in snow-caps in the mountains, for example in the
Himalayas, is normally cyclically frozen and melted and released gently into rivers for human
consumption. Higher temperatures might turn this perfectly balanced cycle dangerous,
causing flooding. In dry areas water is already scarce; deserts such as the Sahara are
expanding, rendering more areas uninhabitable. This is why we have to protect the water we
do have, to ultimately protect ourselves.

All water we have is a finite, but luckily abundant, resource. It constantly moves between
earth and atmosphere in the water cycle; accumulating in the atmosphere from evaporation
and plant transpiration and coming back down as rain, where some of it evaporates
immediately and some is kept for a time. The water we can readily use comes from two
sources; surface water in rivers, lakes and smaller reservoirs, natural or manmade (dams), and
groundwater.

Contamination is a great risk to our water; especially surface water where pathogenic bacteria
and microbes flourish and dissolved dirt can make it turbid. Groundwater is often safe from these
pathogens because it has been naturally filtered through rock. Chemical contaminants such as
heavy metals from industry, synthetic fertilizers and poisonous minerals are also very dangerous
and because their particles are often very small, they can put groundwater at risk.

This is why providing clean water is a problem that must be solved, to help the whole world.
If we reduce mortality from drinking polluted water, we can lower child mortality and raise
life expectancy. It is a problem on a massive, global scale, but locally it is not difficult to
solve. Providing clean water and educating people locally is easy. This could in the long run
help avoid over-population, as poverty and mortality are reduced, because poverty is often
associated with larger families. Water-related diseases are often very easy to cure and even
easier to prevent, but knowledge of the dangers of polluted water is often lacking. Fewer
people sick and dying from water-related diseases will reduce pressure on already over-
stretched healthcare systems and means that there would be more economically active people

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helping the national economy grow. This will also help the global economy. Knowledge and
cheap, clean water are easy to provide and make a great difference very quickly in peoples
lives. When health and knowledge improve, so does economy, empowering people to make
the rest of the difference themselves.

When considering various systems for purifying water, some basic concepts are taken into
account. Appropriate technology is the most important concept; it entails technology that is
easy to use and repair with locally available material and does not need expert handling. Local
people can with a bit of help set it up themselves and maintain it with locally available
material. A good system also needs to be cheap and reliable without endangering the
environment; either by risk of leaching chemicals into nature or through difficulties with the
disposal of used systems: non-degradable materials or chemicals.

Water

What is clean water?

When you think of cleaning water you might say: well, just boil the water to steam and
condense it again, and it will be clean. That is true, but such water is distilled and will never
serve as drinking water. Water used for human consumption contains some minerals and salts
that are essential for our bodies to function. It picks these up from earth, sand and rocks on its
way from its natural source as it runs through mountains and over land to where we pick it up
and drink it. These minerals include Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Potassium (K), Sodium
(Na) and Flouride (F). Calcium is important for bone development, Potassium is needed in
muscles and nervous system and Magnesium might help protect against cardiovascular
disease although most water contains very little of this. Consumption of a litre per day of
good quality mineral water may provide some of the recommended daily intake of Calcium
1
and Potassium. Drinking water should not be relied upon as a single source for a sufficient
intake of these minerals, but they affect taste and may have certain health benefits. Drinking
water is also slightly alkaline, whereas pure H 2O is pH neutral, distilled water should not be
drunk regularly. Sodium and Flouride are dangerous, even lethal in high concentrations,
although such concentrations are rarely associated with drinking water. Too much Sodium can
2
lead to dehydration and too much Flouride can cause bones and teeth to become brittle; it is
3
also possibly linked to Downs syndrome and Alzheimers disease . Too much Flouride is
especially dangerous to children. Below are the limits for water set down by the Codex
Alimentarius commission, a group consisting of the WHO and FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the UN) who set down limits for ingredients in all types of food.

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Table 1: Health-related limits for certain substances as recommended by the Codex
Alimentarius

For Bottled water sold as Natural Mineral water:

3.2.1 Antimony 0.005 mg/l

3.2.2 Arsenic 0.01 mg/l, calculated as total As

3.2.3 Barium 0.7 mg/l1

3.2.4 Borate 5 mg/l, calculated as B

3.2.5 Cadmium 0.003 mg/l

3.2.6 Chromium 0.05 mg/l, calculated as total Cr

3.2.7 Copper 1 mg/l

3.2.8 Cyanide 0.07 mg/l

3.2.9 Fluoride See section 6.3.2

3.2.10 Lead 0.01 mg/l

3.2.11 Manganese 0.4 mg/l

3.2.12 Mercury 0.001 mg/l

3.2.13 Nickel 0.02 mg/l

3.2.14 Nitrate 50 mg/l, calculated as nitrate

3.2.15 Nitrite 0.1 mg/l as nitrite

3.2.16 Selenium 0.01 mg/l

If the product contains more than 1 mg/l of fluoride, the following term shall appear on the label as part of, or in
close proximity to, the name of the product or in an otherwise prominent position:

contains fluoride. In addition, the following sentence should be included on the label: The product
is not suitable for infants and children under the age of seven years where the product contains more
4
than 1.5 mg/l fluorides.
Bottled water that is sold to consumers is required to follow very stringent limits, perhaps
more so than water in nature that is still considered drinkable, but these limits are a good
yardstick. Water for drinking or sanitation purposes should contain no bacteria,
microorganisms or viruses.

Water that we commonly see as dirty and what we imagine as dirty water is turbid (cloudy). This
is due to suspended solids, sand and clay dissolved and suspended in the water and sediment
from the bottom that can get disturbed by aquatic animals such as fish, phytoplankton and algae
growth can also cause turbidity. The measure of the amount of such suspended solids, Total
Suspended Solids (TSS) can be quite difficult to determine but for drinking water purposes,
turbidity is obivously important. Turbidity is a measurement of the

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degree to which water loses its transparency due to
suspended solids, it is measured in units of Nephelometric Figure 1: Secchi disk

Turbidity Units (NTU). The WHO recommend that

drinking water does not have a turbidity above 5 NTU,
5
preferably closer to 1 NTU. Turbidity is measured with a
such disk (Figure 1), a black and white disk which is
lowered into water with a rope, the measured depth at
which it can no longer be seen gives an indication of the
5
NTU of the body of water. Turbidity is in itself not a
threat, but drinking cloudy water is not very nice.
Suspended solids also increase the risk of pollutants,

giving bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, chemicals and

other pollutants ample opportunity of attaching to the
suspended particles. The such disk, lowered into a body
of water to determine turbidity

10
 st
The roman architect and civil engineer Vitruvius (1 century B.C) used the following
criteria to determine water quality. Good quality was determined if: (1) people living nearby
the source were healthy, (2) if droplets of water left no traces on bronze vessels, (3) water
left no sand or other residue after boiling, (4) green vegetables could be cooked quickly in
6
the water and (5) running water was clear and aquatic plants had not taken root.

11
1
2
Global water resources

Figure 2: Global water resources

13
1
4
As one can clearly see, there is plenty of water on this planet (Figure 2), the top left hand
picture shows total renewable water resources per inhabitant; most countries are covered by
the two darker blue shades, 1700-5000 cu m per person or even more. As can also be seen in
the top right hand picture, most countries use only 10% or less of their possible renewable
resources. The centre picture shows that only a few countries are currently suffering from
physical water scarcity: these areas include the coast of northern Africa, the Arab Peninsula,
parts of the south-western United States and northern Mexico and parts of the Middle East,
northern China and eastern Australia. Asian countries around the Black Sea and the Caspian
Sea, parts of central India, South Africa and western Mexico are expected to suffer from
physical water scarcity soon if infrastructure and the way resources are used are not
improved. The bright orange areas, the broad belt across central Africa of which Zambia is
definitely a part, some of the Far East around northern India, Bangladesh and the countries
south of China and western south America, are suffering from economic water scarcity. These
are also the areas that we associate with the developing nations of the world. Economic water
scarcity means that there is limited access to water despite the fact that there are plentiful
natural resources. It probably means that most of the water is in rivers and smaller surface
reservoirs are polluted and that there is limited infrastructure in place to provide water for
human use. Plentiful water supplies in some countries can also make up for shortage in other
countries; the bottom left picture shows global water flow, which countries are importing and
exporting water and how much. According to this picture Zambia might be importing a small
amount of water, despite the fact that they have no physical water shortages. This could be
due to the lack of infrastructure needed to utilize existing resources, leading providers to
import water instead. However, it is most likely that Zambia does not import any water, thus
is put in the 0-5 category. The truth is that there is a lot still to be done to get Zambian water
to people who so badly need it; for example, groundwater could be pumped up. In some
countries over-exploitation of groundwater has led to dangerously sinking water-tables - the
6
Chinese city of Beijing is at risk of sinking because of a reduced water-table below. So far,
this is not a problem in Zambia because as yet very little water is used and what is used is
eventually replenished by rain. Surface water sources can also be used if sufficient water
purification is in place.

Water-related disease
The risk of disease is very high when clean water and adequate sanitation are not available.
Contaminated water contains bacteria and viruses that cause diseases and may contain poisonous
chemicals. Suspended solids, small particles of dust or earth that make water cloudy or brown are
likely to carry such pollutants are therefore undesirable. Certain metals and minerals i.e. Pb
(Lead) and Arsenic (As) are toxic and others are dangerous in high concentrations. Chemicals
often come from the leaching of fertilizer and pesticides, for example nitrate. Viruses and bacteria
can cause diarrhoeal diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid fever, E coli infection, Hepatitis A,
Polio and Legionellosis (Legionnaires disease). This is an acute issue especially in developing
countries. These diseases are perfectly treatable, but in

15
these countries they may be lethal, due to the lack of sufficient medical care. A vicious circle
forms when waste is disposed of and contaminates water. One of the most common
contaminants in developing countries is bacteria from faecal matter that enters the water when
it cannot be disposed of properly.

In developing countries medical care is often limited and already highly strained. Hospitals
are small with limited resources and people often have to travel vast distances to reach them.
A lack of knowledge is also a great problem-people simply do not know of the risks of
contaminated water or may have no option for acquiring water than a from contaminated
source. The mother of a sick child may well continue giving it contaminated water in the hope
of curing, not knowing what is causing the illness or that the water is contaminated.

The risk of disease is not only from drinking contaminated water. Water-related diseases are
commonly classified depending on their relation to the use of water:

Water-borne diseases are the most widely known; caused by organisms that can
survive in water (such as E.coli and salmonella and viruses that cause Hepatitis A and Polio).
These pathogens are easily ingested when contaminated water is drunk. Due to the short life
cycles of bacteria and viruses, a small number can multiply very rapidly, spreading the disease.

Water-washed diseases such as some diahorreal diseases and skin-and eye

infections such as scabies and trachoma, can easily take hold when sufficient clean water is not
available for personal hygiene. When water is scarce, washing often takes a back seat to the need
to drink.

Water-based diseases are such that parasites that spend part of their life cycle in
water can be ingested when washing, swimming or drinking the water. Examples are
intestinal worms and Schistosomiasis (Bilharzias).

Water-associated vector-borne diseases: Water provides a habitat for

many insects that carry diseases. For example mosquitoes that often breeds in still water. The
7
most well-known and dangerous are malaria and yellow fever.
Inadequate sanitation is inextricably linked to the problem of providing clean water. Improper
disposal of waste can easily contaminate surface water sources and will contaminate areas
where people move on a daily basis, for example where children play. Washing hands after
each possible contact with faeces is unlikely and disease is rife where precious clean water is
limited. It will be used for drinking instead of washing. According to WHO, the minimum
amount of water a person needs to survive is 5 litres per day, the limit for reliable health is
6
about 30 litres.
Diarrhoeal diseases are the most common in developing countries because they are directly
related to inadequate water and sanitation facilities. They are easily cured by drinking clean
water and replacing lost body salts, often by administering a salt-solution. Eating plenty of
good food would help this as well. These are all things that we take for granted but are often
not available in developing countries.

Surface water in rivers and Dambos (see p. 21) in Zambia is often highly contaminated, but
wells are not much better if they are not sealed. Both in urban and rural areas hand-
dugshallow wells are common. These are contaminated when waste is disposed of and
people defecate openly nearby, this quickly leaches into the water. Especially in the rainy
season, water-borne diseases are rife, when rain mixes with waste and leaches into the
nearby river, open wells flood and waste runs into the well. Water-borne diseases are

16
practically unavoidable in rural areas, in urban areas there are at least water-kiosks, but
diseases are a reality there as well, since people live so close together with shared,
inadequate sanitation facilities. The diseases most commonly found are Typhoid fever,
Dysentery, both diarrhoeal diseases resulting from bacterial infections; Trachoma, an eye
infection caused by bacteria; Schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection very common in
Zambia, and Cholera.

Cholera

When the rain comes - Cholera comes. (Pers. Comm. Village Water 2011) Cholera is the
worst diarrhoeal disease, with seven recorded pandemics in the last 200 years. In acute
cases, death can occur within 3-4 hours, although 90% of cases are mild and therefore easily
7
confused with other, less virulent diarrhoeal diseases. Acute cases cause severe, watery
diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps. Skin becomes cold and withered. Patients become
7
rapidly dehydrated and need rapid treatment.
Originally it was thought to be an Indian disease, and it did originate in Asia, but with mass
movement of people between continents with air travel, motorways and international trade the
hardy bacteria spread across the world. The Cholera bacteria can survive in clean tap water
for up to 30 days and tolerate refrigeration. They can live in food, although there is little
evidence that the international food trade has contributed to spreading Cholera.

The last pandemic, which started in 1961 in Indonesia, is still going on. It ravaged Asia for a
decade and then reached Africa by 1971. It receded slightly in the later 1970s but increased
8 th
again in the 1980s. In South America, Cholera had been defeated since the 19 century but
reappeared in Peru in 1991 with over 320,000 reported cases in Peru alone, by far the hardest
hit in the Americas. Thanks to swift action from authorities with warnings issued to families
7
and medical help provided, there were only 3000 deaths in Peru. The year 1991 also saw a 9-
7
fold increase in Cholera cases in Africa. Nigeria was the hardest hit with nearly 60,000
cases, from no reports at all in 1990, followed by Zambia and Ghana with 13,000 cases each.
Although the African and South American outbreaks both involved the same strain of the
bacteria, the El Tor, Africa reported about 10% fatalities, almost ten times that of South
7
America. The El Tor strain is less virulent than the Asian variety, but is still a dangerous
disease and remains a serious issue in developing countries.

The first modern record of Cholera in Europe occurred in the 1830s, reaching Russia and

Germany from the Middle East. France was struck in Paris in 1832 and there were several
th
outbreaks in London during the 19 century. Sanitation was very bad, with sewerage
disposed of straight into rivers, streams and storm drains. In crowded, poor areas, sewerage
was often emptied from windows straight into the street below. The situation is little better in
many slums in developing countries today. London physician John Snow first identified
sewage-contaminated water as the transmitter of Cholera in 1854. In 1883 German scientist
Robert Koch managed to identify the Cholera bacteria Vibrio Cholerae. At last, governments

17
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recognized the importance of clean water and sanitation. Outbreaks of Cholera were the spur
of major investment in water supply and sanitation in several European cities and Cholera
soon receded. Later, in 1991 there were only minor outbreaks in Romania and Ukraine, with
7
226 and 75 cases respectively and only 9 deaths in Romania.

Water purification

Filtration
Most, if not all, water purification systems contain a filter stage. These filter out large things
from sewage water, like cotton wool and condoms that should not have been thrown down the
toilet in the first place. Filters can also remove smaller particles like silt and suspended solids;
dissolved ions and some filters catch bacteria and viruses. Filtration is the most widely used
method in developing countries. One of these filtration methods is the sand filter. As the name
implies, sand filters filter water through sand and gravel, thus mimicking nature as
groundwater percolates through the ground. There are two types of sand filters: a rapid sand
filter and a slow sand filter. Rapid sand filters filter water through sand, but speed up the
process by using chemicals as well. Rapid sand filters may use flocculation (see p. 15) with
aluminium and iron. Slow sand filters however, use no chemicals or electricity to function,
but they are often large and require large areas if used municipally. Slow sand filters consist
of a layer of fine grain sand supported on a layer of gravel, the topmost layer consisting of a
biofilm (a layer of biological activity called a schmutzdecke), bacteria fungi and a range of
aquatic larvae that have been caught there. As this builds up, micororganisms help to
metabolise organic material in the water, cleaning it. Sand filters require some time to mature,
usually 10-20 days before the filtered water is safe to drink. The water that flows through the
filter during this first time will not be clean enough for human consumption and should be
discarded or put through another filter until a sufficient schmutzdecke has formed. Slow sand
filters require a more or less continuous flow of water to avoid drying out the biolayer and to
ensure a continuous flow of nutrients to support the microorganisms in the biolayer. As the
filter is used, the schmutzdecke will grow bigger and consequently will reduce the flow rate
of the filter. When flow rate becomes too low, the filter has to be cleaned by emptying the
9
filter and scraping off the top layer of sand. Because slow sand filters are slow, the water
needs a long time to get through the sand and capacity is limited, although they are relatively
easy to manage. Below is a diagram showing a slow sand filter.

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 Figure 3: Slow Sand Filter

Figure 3 shows the working of a slow

sand filter. The tap can be put either at
the bottom or a tube can lead the
treated water up the side of the
container to the top for easier access.
The picture shows the layers of sand.
The biolayer develops above the
layers of fine sand at the top. If one
were to have a the layer of coarse sand
on top, to filter bigger particles first,
which may seem like a good idea, the
biolayer would develop on the finer
sand in the middle of the filter, in fact
making cleaning much more difficult.

Chemical disinfection
In most developed countries the standard process of filtrating water is speeded up with
chemicals, in some instances, with less turbid water, chemicals can be used alone. The most
common chemical used to disinfect water is chlorine (Cl). Chlorine is a very effective
disinfectant and also provides some residual disinfection; it remains in water to stop re-
comtamination. Chlorine is more than 3 times more effective in disinfecting water than the
10
equivalent concentration of bromine and 6 times more effective than iodine. Drawbacks of
using chlorine can be: strange taste and smell of water (usually associated with shock-
chlorination with much higher concentrations), as well as a slight risk of naturally occuring
organic compounds combining with chlorine to form carcinogenic compounds, Disinfection
By-Products (DBPs). However, the WHO states that that health risks associated with DBPs
11
are much smaller than risks associated with inadequate disinfection. Chlorine can be used
by itself, but as it is a naturally volatile gas it is usually used in compounds such as hypo-
chloric acid or chloroamines. Chloroamines may produce slightly lower levels of DBPs, but
chlorine is toxic to fish and aquatic organisms and should be kept out of natural water
systems. Chlorine is only toxic to humans after long exposure and at concentrations much
greater than those used for disinfecting drinking water.

Existing water treatment plants in Zambia use Chlorine to disinfect pipe-water. But it is still
recommended that families chlorinate their water further in case all the bacteria has not
been eliminated at the treatment plant. Even if the water is safe from the plant, bacteria can
multiply very quickly and recontaminate water if the water rests for a long time before

21
reaching the user, or if the pipes conveying it are themselves contaminated. Sometimes the
plants do not use enough chlorine and the residual effect may not be sufficient. Chlorine is a
usable method in urban or peri-urban areas and quite affordable. In Zambia, Chlorine is cheap
because of its extensive usage in household purification of drinking water. One bottle of
Chlorine in the supermarket costs 1500 K, or about 2 kr. A woman in the Kanyama slum of
Lusaka said that 10,000 K (13 kr) bought her enough Chlorine to purify all her water for 10
months.

Sweden no longer uses Chlorine to purify drinking water, because of its volatile nature and
potential health risks, as well as its toxicity to the environment. But in developing countries,
such as Zambia chlorine is a very useful tool to prevent water-borne diseases as alternative
methods do not exist. Chlorine is easy to use and very effective, but because of its toxicity one
may hope it is a temporary solution that can deal with the water-borne diseases that ravage
these countries and will eventually be replaced by more sustainable methods.

Sedimentation
A process in which contaminants that are heavier than water sink to the bottom of a basin and
the water is then led out of the basin above the sediment layer.

Flocculation
Elements such as Aluminium (Al) can be used in a process called flocculation. Flocculation is
a process where colloids come out of suspension in a solute, such as water. Aluminium, which
is positively charged attracts negatively charged bacteria and viruses, all this then sinks to the
12
bottom (Sedimentation) and can then be filtered out.
Stabilization
A very popular process for larger scale use in developing countries. Highly contaminated
13
waste-water is left in ponds where natural biological processes remove pathogens. The
ponds are usually built in a series of at least three; anaerobic, facultative and aerobic. The
first, anaerobic pond is 2-5 m deep and water stays there for 1-7 days only. Here anaerobic
bacteria transform organic carbon into methane, removing up to 60 % of biological activity.
13
Effluent is then led to a facultative pond, 1-2.5 m deep and a detention time of 5-30 days. A
combination of processes happen; anaerobic bacteria digest sludge on the bottom and closer
to the surface aerobic processes work, receiving oxygen from natural diffusion, algae
13
photosynthesis and wind-mixing. The facultative pond removes up to a further 75 % of
biological activity. In both these stages, sedimentation occurs and effluent is led to the next
pond from above the bottom sludge. The last, aerobic, pond is often called the finishing,
maturation or polishing pond, because it finishes the work off. Maturation ponds can be built
in series of more ponds for better pathogen removal. Of the three ponds in the stabilization
process, the maturation pond is the one that removes actual pathogens. A shallow pond, only
0.5-1.5 m deep so that sunlight can reach to the bottom for photosynthesis. This pond can
remove a lot of nitrogen and phosphorous from water if used with algaeal photosynthesis and
13
fish harvesting.

22
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Stabilization ponds need a lot of land area and expert personnel to build and monitor the
ponds. They are not suitable for densely populated urban areas because of the bad smell and
large land areas required, but are otherwise popular in developing countries because they use
13
no electricity or chemicals and can be repaired with locally available materials.

Figure 4: Waste-water stabilization pond

Figure 4 shows the function of a waste-water stabilization pond with three stages

The three processes of sedimentation, flocculation and stabilization are not used alone but
in combination to produce water safe enough for drinking purposes. Nor should effluent
direct from a stabilizing pond be used for recreation without further treatment, for example
chlorination. These processes are used in larger scale treatment facilities, for example those
used by NWASCO to treat their piped water. (See Piped Water in Kiosks p. 24)

Reverse osmosis
A reverse osmosis filter is based on the chemical process of osmosis. This means that when two
solutions are separated by a semi-permeable membrane, solvent will tend to flow through the
membrane from an area of low concentration to an area with high concentration. The membrane
will let through the solvent but not the bigger particles of the solute, forcing the solvent to flow
instead of the solute in a normal solution. In reverse osmosis, pressure is applied to the side of the
membrane with high concentration; usually 2-17 bars depending on the concentration of the
solution. This forces the solvent (water) from the area of high solute concentration through the
membrane to the area with low (or no) concentration. Eventually all

24
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of the solute is caught on one side, the reverse of the original osmosis process.
14
Reverse osmosis is often used in desalination and to remove other dissolved ions.

Figure 5: Reverse Osmosis

Figure 5 shows Reverse Osmosis used to purify salt water; pressure applied on the salt water
forces the water to flow the reverse direction to ordinary osmosis.

Systems and developments

SODIS-Solar Disinfection

Sunlight can be used to disinfect water, the UV

Figure 6: SODIS bottles on a roof

radiation and heat from the sun will kill
bacteria and viruses. This is how it

works: A clean, clear container, usually a

plastic PET bottle because they are often
easily available, is filled with water. This
is left outside for at least 6 hours, up to
several days. (Figure 6) The water is then
drinkable. How long the water should be
left depends on the amount of sunlight
available. On a clear day, 6 hours can be
enough, in cloudier conditions, the water
needs to be left for 2 days. The SODIS

26
does not work in rainy weather. Water
that is too turbid

27
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cannot be disinfected using this method, without first filtering it. A simple test to find out
whether the water is clear enough is to stand a filled bottle on a newspaper. If the smaller
headlines can be read when looking through the top of the bottle, the water is clear enough for
UV-disinfection to work. Passing this test corresponds to a turbidity of <30 NTU (Turbidity
15
units). Even this in fact exceeds the WHO recommendation for turbidity of water (See
What is clean water? above).

SODIS is a simple, cheap method of purifying water but it has a few drawbacks: (1)
determining how long the water needs to be left in the sun might be difficult as soon as
weather is changeable or a bit cloudy; (2) this method is not good for turbid water without
filtering; (3) water from surface water sources is often very turbid; (4) the water needs to be
drunk quite quickly to avoid recontamination, although this applies in most cases in
developing countries when water storage is difficult. Plastic water containers are otherwise
notorious for growing bacteria. Lastly, (5) water coming out of the SODIS container will be
rather warm, and drinking warm water is not always very enjoyable if resources are not
available to chill water.

LifeStraw

LifeStraw (Figure 7) is a recent invention by the Vestergaard Frandsen Group: shaped like a
straw but a few inches thick, it uses halogenated resin to kill bacteria and virus. Water is drunk
straight through the straw. In tests it could reduce levels of iodine and silver to below toxicity.
However it does not remove heavy metals such as Lead (Pb) or Flouride (F), there is one version
16
available that can filter Arsenic. The LifeStraw is an expensive filter, but may well save lives
in connection with natural disasters where quick, short-term relief is needed.

According to the patent holder: Halogenated resin compositions are prepared without using

halogen acids by combining at least one silicone intermediate, with an optional silane, an
organic halogen-containing ingredient having functional groups selected from the group
consisting of hydroxy, amine, and carboxyl
groups, and a resin selected from the group Figure 7: Child drinking through a LifeStraw

consisting of hydroxy- and epoxy-functional

17
resins.

Larger-scale family versions of the filter are

available for home use.

29
30
Nano-filter

Researchers at Stanford

University have Figure 8: Nanofilter SEM 2000x

developed a

Nanofilter (Figure 8)
that kills bacteria with
an electric field. Their
filter is ordinary cotton
fabric, coated with
highly conductive
carbon nanotubes and
silver nanowires, silver
has long been known
to have chemical
bacteria-killing
properties. The coated
cotton is layered to

about 2.5 inches thick. The pores of this filter are much larger than conventional filters,
allowing water to flow through up to 80,000 times faster. Electricity passing through the filter
kills the bacteria as they pass through the filter. Electrons pass very smoothly over the filter
thanks to the very small size of the nanoparticles, thus only a current of a few milliamperes is
needed. The silver helps prevent biofouling; buildup of bacterias caught in a filter, because
any bacteria that lag behind will likely be killed by the silver nanowires. In tests, 98% of E.
coli bacteria were killed when subjected to 20 Volts of electricity during several seconds in
the filter. The team are currently testing the filter on different bacteria and using multiple
filters to kill more bacteria. They are hoping the filter might be useful in developing countries
because it is cheap; so little silver was used for the nanowires that the cost was negligible. The
basis of cotton is easily accessible, but the nanomaterials will still be a difficult issue in
18
developing countries.
Still, killing bacteria with an electric current is an interesting idea, in that it will be much
faster than conventional methods of filtering and disinfection with UV-light, if materials are
accessible and little electricity is needed.

Ceramic water filter

Potters for Peace are an organization in America that have been working actively with local
organizations in developing countries since 1998, making ceramic water filters. They work
all over the world, but mainly in Central and South America, where they started. They never
sell filters themselves, but only travel to a location to train local potters to make the filters
and sell them to communities. The PFP filter (Figure 9) is a simple bucket 11 wide, 10
deep made of local terracotta clay, mixed with a combustible fibre, such as sawdust or old
19
rice-husks and coated with colloidal silver, known for its anti-microbial properties.

31
32
It is made by pressing the clay mixture in a mold of

aluminium and then firing at 860 C, the simplest such Figure 9: Ceramic water filter press
can be a hand-operated hydraulic truck jack. This

bucket is kept in a plastic or ceramic receptacle with a

tap at the bottom and a lid. A filter rate of 1.5-2.5
litres/hour can be expected, depending on the
clay/fibre mixture and firing temperature. A bucket
can be expected to last about 40 months before having
to be replaced. A complete filter costs around 15-25
US$, a replacement filter bucket around 4-6 US$.
Field experience and clinical test results have shown
that this filter removes 99.88% of most water-borne
20
disease agents.
Colloidal silver is a solution of silver cations
(negatively charged ions) in water. For use in filters,

protein, such as xanthium gum, is added to keep the highly concentrated silver cations from
separating from the water. Colloidal silver can kill bacteria by inactivating their metabolic
19
enzymes, or attaching to the cellular membrane, causing the cell to grow too much and die.
The Potters for Peace filters seem an excellent method for cleaning water in developing
countries, depending, of course on whether it is suitable for a communitys resources and

needs. It not only seems to be easy to look after, cheap

and easy to make but can also provide an extra
economic upswing for the potters that make them.

Bio-sand filter

The Biosand filter (Figure 10) is an adaptation of the

slow sand filter, as described above. (See Filtration) It
has been proven to be just as effective as slow sand filters
though laboratory and field tests. It is smaller than a
traditional slow sand filter and according its developer,
more adapted to intermittent use, making it suitable for
small-scale family use. It can be contained in concrete,
plastic or another waterproof, rustproof and non-toxic
material. Typically a cylindrical shape about 0.9 m tall
and 0.3 m in diameter, the sand and gravel layered inside.
Treated water collects at the base and is propelled by its
own pressure to a spout at the top of the filter. The filter
has a diffuser - a perforated plate above the sand layer to
dissipate the initial force of the water poured into the filter
and let it flow evenly through the
biolayer. A lid completes the system. 21
A bio-sand filter with sand, a lid and diffuser
plate and pipe which leads up to the top for
easy acess

33
34
Correct manufacturing and installation, to ensure a long and succesful life, of the
biosand filter requires:

that the box that doesnt leak

screened and washed sand, (organic free, Uniformity Coefficient of 1.5 3.0 and an
Effective size of 0.15 0.30 mm - a sieve analysis is required to determine these
numbers)

well washed under-drain and separating gravel

diffuser plate and lid

safe storage container

maximum standing water level of 5 cms

start-up (maturing) time of 14-21 days

Free designs are available from the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology
21
(CAWST).
The capital cost of installing a bio-sandfilter is 12-30 US dollars, depending on the choice of
container, a concrete container lasts longer, though it is heavy should one want to move it.
This does not include transportation costs or education costs. Current installed bio-sandfilters
are still performing well after 10 years or more; the expected life span is 30+ years. There are
no costs for maintaining the filter, although lids and diffusers may need to be replaced, but not
21
often.
Water quality tests carried out in 2005 on 107 long term bio-sand filters used in Haiti showed
a 98.5% reduction in E-coli bacteria, the indicative for pathogenic bacteria presence
recommended by the WHO. In lab tests, a 70->99% reduction in bacteria was measured.
5
Turbidity was reduced by 95% (to <1 NTU, below the WHO recommendation ) in lab tests
21
and 85% in field tests. Such water is not perfect, but it is a great improvement and
considerably reduces the risk of disease. Bio-sand filters are, like other all other filters, not
very good for removing dissovled chemicals or minerals. To remove those, further treatment,
such as flocculation is required.

Bio-sand filters are reasonably simple units and suitable size for a family and because of the
lid is suitable for more intermittent use without the schmutzdecke drying out. Especially the
concrete container is solid and lasts well. Water poured into it comes out drinkable quite
quickly and the quality of the water is reliable as long as the filter is cared for properly, this
requires some simple training. A constant supply of clean water can be guaranteed if a village
or community share several filters at different stages, so that if one needs cleaning and
maturing again, another filter covers for those 20 days.

35
Kanchan Arsenic filter

The arsenic filter works just the same as the biosand-filter, but a layer of ungalvanized nails is
added on the diffuser plate to filter out arsenic, a carcinogen. The nails filter arsenic by the
principle of iron hydroxide adsorption; arsenate ions in water are quickly attracted by the iron
oxide on the rusty nails and form bigger particles. These particles then dislodge and are
22
filtered out by the sand-filter. Field tests of the Kanchan Arsenic filter show 90-99%
22
reduction of iron in the water and 85-95% reduction of Arsenic apart from the above results
for an ordinary bio-sand filter. The Arsenic filter is also better than the ordinary bio-sand filter
for reducing high levels of iron; the Bio-sand filter is not suitable for removing iron.

36
Conclusion
There is no one single, perfect solution to providing clean water. Even in Zambia several
potential systems may be used. Because the water table is quite high in Zambia, many local
charities opt to dig wells and install pumps and utilize ground water. Ground water is still safe
in Zambia and wells can provide a lot of water quickly when cared for properly and not over-
used. The risk of ground water drying out is so far extremely slim in Zambia.

Installing a water purifier or a well always requires outside help. This comes from charities
that help to install the system and, most importantly, educate people on the importance of
clean water and sanitation and teach them how to maintain their filter or well in working
order.

For purifying water on a smaller scale setting in Zambia a filter such as the bio-sand filter or
ceramic pot filter is suitable, they are cheap and simple and able to clean out the elements that
are a problem in Zambia - bacteria and viruses. Traditional slow sand filters are often used on
a much larger scale, in water treatment plants as they are or with help from chemicals. SODIS
disinfection cannot be used without a filter, as surface water is often turbid and disinfection
time depends a lot on the weather and is difficult because of that. The LifeStraw is rather
expensive and cannot be acquired by local people on their own, it is handed out by charities
and the same problem still remains when the LifeStraw reaches its use-by date. The nano-
filter needs a lot of further research, but it sounds as if it might be expensive and difficult to
mend or find replacement parts Moreover, electricity is often a problem in Zambia.
Stabilization and chlorination are used by NWASCO now. In urban and peri-urban areas,
Chlorine is a cheap, accessible method for ensuring safe drinking water. It is a relatively
short-term solution as it is not environmentally sustainable and one may hope that safer
chemicals will soon be available also in developing countries. Chlorine is not an option in
rural areas, these small communities are self-sustaining dependent on agriculture, far away
from any supermarket that sells Chlorine. In these communities, sand-filters or wells are so
far the only option for safe water.

The ceramic pot filter and the bio-sandfilter do not differ noticeably in cost. They both cost
around 20 dollars to install, the bio-sand filter can cost a little more to install, but it does not
require regular replacement like the pot in the ceramic pot filter. The ceramic pot is also
breakable and replacement requires that the local potters that have been trained remain
available and also that the additional colloidal silver and xanthium gum are available. The
bio-sandfilter is sturdy and has been proven to last for a long time without replacement. It is
very easy to maintain and clean, replacement parts are locally available if need be. Neither
pose threats to the environment as the do not contain any chemicals that might leach (in the
ceramic filter, the colloidal silver is firmly attached to the filter with xanthium gum). Used
filters can be disposed of, plastic parts and concrete parts however cannot be dumped
anywhere. The small amount of colloidal silver in the ceramic filter is unlikely to pose any
risks to the environment. Sand from an old sandfilter can be disposed anywhere, it is a
natural product.

These filters are also very good because the education provided by charities that help in
installing them makes a great difference and empowers people to change their lives by
themselves. When a community builds their own purifier or well and maintains it collectively
as well as improving general sanitation habits, it is the most sustainable. The installation of a
bio-sand filter does this, it is the cheapest and easiest to maintain and has a long life span,
giving it the edge on the ceramic pot filter. The bio-sand filter can be built by any charity, as

37
drawings are freely available from CAWST, whereas the ceramic pot filter is so far tied to the
Potters for Peace charity.

38
39