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A review of low cost alternative of water treatment in rural area

Conference Paper · February 2015

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.3970.1287

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A review of low cost alternative of water treatment in rural area

Abhishek Kumar Singh1, Lokesh Kumar Gupta2, Vivek Kumar Singh 3
1
Infinite Tech park Pvt Ltd, New Delhi India
2
Department of Applied Sciences, RKGITW, Ghaziabad, U.P., India
3
University of Coimbra - MIT Portugal Program, Coimbra, Portugal

Abstract:
Over 3 million people, including 1.3 million children’s below six die every year from drinking
infected water. According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization One in eight people
worldwide lack access to safe, clean potable drinking water, and Many people has no choice but to
drink water they know is contaminated with potentially life-threatening bacteria. In poor developing
countries people, obtain up to 5 gallon (Appox.19-20 litter) of safe, clean water each day. In ancient
ages of human civilization boiling water over a wood fire is one of commonly cheaper clean
method for water solution, but it is still hazards in poor ventilation kitchen and what's more it fuels
deforestation.

This paper is an attempt to examine and review the published research that has been carried out so
far with various low cost water treatment method suitable in rural area as Bamboo charcoal
(Activated carbon) Solar sterilization, distillation, Chlorine filters, Bone ,Everything-but-the-sink
portable filter , Slow sand filtration ,and Emergency homemade filter. These low cost water
treatment sustainable tool options for rural infrastructures.

Keyword: Clean, deign, filters, treatment, and water

1. Introduction
Approximately 80% of all illnesses in developing countries are caused by poor water and sanitation

condition. It is normal for women and young girls to need to walk a few kilometers consistently to

bring water for their families. When filled, water containers can weigh as much as 20 kg (44 lbs).

[1]

In the last century, water use has greatly outpaced the rate of population growth: people are using

more water than ever before. By 2025, up to 1.8 billion individuals could face water scarcity. [2] By
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2025, up to 1.8 billion people could face water scarcity Water scarcity can take two forms: physical

water scarcity, or low quantity of water, and economic water scarcity, or low quality of water.

Physical water scarcity term typically applies to dry, arid regions where fresh water naturally occurs

in low quantities. This is in effect incredibly exacerbated by anthropogenic exercises that take

surface and ground water quicker than the earth can recharge it. Locales most influenced by this

kind of water lack are Mexico, Northern and Southern Africa, the Middle East, India, and Northern

China. [2] Economic water scarcity applies to ranges or societies that fail to offer the monetary

assets and/or human ability to put resources into water sources and take care of the local demand.

Water is often only available to those who can pay for it or those in political power; leaving

millions of the world's poorest without access. The regions most affected by this type of scarcity are

portions of Central and South America, Central Africa, India, and South East Asia. [2]

India's water crisis is established in three reasons. The primary is insufficient water per person as a

consequence of population growth. The second cause is poor water quality coming about because of

inadequate and postponed investment in urban water-treatment offices. The third issue is waning

groundwater supplies because of over-extraction by agriculturists. This is on account of

groundwater is an open-access asset and anybody can pump water from under his or her own

particular area. [3]

India has 16 per cent of the world’s population and four per cent of its fresh water resources.

Around 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually, 1.5 million children are

estimated to die of diarrhea alone and 73 million working days are lost due to waterborne disease

each year. The resulting economic burden is estimated at $600 million a year. [4]

Providing safe drinking water to all in rural India is a challenging task. The user should be made

aware of the importance of preventing contamination of water and user’s accountability should also
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realize their individual responsibility in maintaining the quality of water. Researcher point out the

various low cost water treatment method suitable in rural area as Bamboo charcoal (Activated

carbon) Solar sterilization, distillation, Chlorine filters, Bone ,Everything-but-the-sink portable

filter ,Slow sand filtration ,and Emergency homemade filter.

2. Water treatment process for drinking.

Water suppliers use a variety of treatment processes to remove contaminants from drinking water.

[5] Water treatment process defined as alternation or removal of unwanted properties as chemical,

biological and physical, suspended solids and gases from contaminated water. [6] [7]

Fig (1) water treatment process

3. Low cost water treatment in rural area

Absence of drinking water is the biggest challenge for rural area, higher cost of water Treatment is

the main reason for using untreated water for drinking purposes in rural. Low cost various water

treatment methods have pointed out to new ways to treat water.

3.1 Bamboo charcoal

Members of the E4C Community researcher team from Bangalore, India propose to design and

constructed a natural filter comprising of bamboo, gravel, pebble and other locally available natural
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adsorbents to carry out this purification. Properties of bamboo charcoal such as its high porosity,

mineral constituents, absorption rate, existence of harmless microbes etc., make it perfect for its

utilization in the purification of water.

During water purification processes, bamboo charcoal even dissolves its rich mineral contents into

the water, so the purified water becomes mineral-rich. Apart from the use of bamboo, they also

propose to use gravel and pebbles in various stages to aid particle sedimentation and thus further

purification. By exposure to sunlight, UV rays also play their role in the filtering and purification

with their capacity to kill pathogenic bacteria. Uniquely, the process they propose is indigenous,

eco-friendly, low cost and entails minimum maintenance. It can purify 30 liters of water per hour by

the application of batch process method under maximum sunlight

Bamboo charcoal is rich in a number of minerals including potassium, magnesium, sodium, and calcium. As

it filters your water, Bamboo charcoal releases a type of electromagnetic waves, called Far Infrared Waves

(FIR), at wavelengths ranging from 4 to 16 micrometers. It is absorbed by all organic material.

Fig (2) Primary design of the Bamboo charcoal filter

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3.2 Ceramic filters

After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, safe drinking water became a huge problem in Sri Lanka.

Trucking or flying in bottled water was just a temporary fix. What the devastated communities

needed was a cheap way to treat water at the point of use. The American Red Cross Society

teamed up with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society to bring clay water filters to tsunami affected

communities. They submitted the design to Practical Action, which now makes the technical

brief freely available. Clay and sandstone water filters have been used for over a thousand years.

The Sri Lanka National Museum has one on display that is 1200 years old, and the design has

not changed much. Each filter looks like a large clay flower pot. When water is poured into the

filter, it slowly seeps through the clay material and drips into a storage container. The filter

works like a sieve because the clay used to make it is porous. These tiny pores are large enough

to allow water to seep through, but small enough to trap bacteria and other contaminants. Filters

made by using the Red Cross design treat about 2 liters of water per hour, adding up to 40 liters

per day. This is sufficient for most families. [8]

4. Portable cheap water filter

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A group of students at BITS-Pilani have developed one such water filter. This portable filter

design proposed in response to a call for better water filtration at taps in India uses chlorine,

silver beads, activated charcoal and sand. Flow rate: 10 liters per hour.[9]

Fig. 4. Portable cheap water filter

5. Emergency homemade filter

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When you find yourself and a survival circumstance, you don't generally have admittance to

chemicals or a channel to clean the water so you can drink it. You could simply heat up the

water, however this wouldn't get sand and different particles out of the water and the chemicals

will likewise stay in the water in the wake of cooking it. Which thusly could influence your

health. So the most ideal approach to refine your water is to utilize a channel. Regularly you can

fabricate a water channel with the assets you have access, this gets the particulars, earth and a

portion of the chemicals out of the water. It is wise to boil the water after you filtered it so that

all bacteria and viruses are killed.[10]

A water filter can be created by removing the bottom of a bottle. Turn the bottle upside-down

(with the cap down down). And put the following materials in the bottle.- Pebbles, Sand, a piece

of cloth or bandages, Charcoal, a piece of cloth or bandages, Sand, Pebbles

Fig.5 5. Emergency homemade filter

6. Bone char filtration

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Bone char is a permeable, dark, granular material delivered by scorching creature bones. Its

piece differs relying upon how it's made, in any case it comprises principally of tricalcium

phosphate (or hydroxylapatite) 57-80%, calcium carbonate 6-10% and initiated carbon 7-

10%. It is fundamentally utilized for filtration and decolourisation. [11]

Fig.6 Bone char filtration

7. Bicycle filter

Bicycles in all their glorious versatility and simplicity have got to be one of our favorite

devices, and we were pleased to find not just one, but two bicycle-powered water filters.

Nippon Basic Co. Invented Cyclo Clean, a bicycle rigged with a pump to draw water from a

river or well and a robust, three-filter system to purify the water.

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The Aquaduct can carry enough water for an entire family and cleans the water as it

transports it as the rider peddles, the peristaltic pump draws the water from the storage tank

and through the filter. The filtered water is then transferred to the clean tank. The clean tank

is a closed, removable container which can be simply taken into the home, allowing the

water to be used right away.[12]

Fig-7 Aduaduct Bicycle filter

8. The CTI 8 Chlorinator

CTI (Compatible Technology International) is a not for profit Non-Governmental

Organization (NGO) USA, design CTI 8 is a device for disinfecting drinking water in

gravity-fed water systems. It is low-cost, non-electrical, and requires minimal maintenance.

The CTI 8 is capable of delivering a constant and an appropriate dose of chlorine to control

disease-causing organisms in small community water systems [13][14]

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Fig 8. The CTI 8 Chlorinator

9. Solar sterilization

Solar distillation is the process in which solar heat is used to purify water from an impure

water source by evaporation and condensation. When solar distillation is used to purify

water from saline water, the process is also called solar desalination. Desalination converts

saline water with high salt content, about 3. 5% by weight in seawater and about 0.6%

in brackish water, into fresh water suitable for drinking and other purposes. Solar energy

can be used for desalination, either as thermal energy through the use of solar thermal

collectors or solar ponds, or use electricity. Mainly through the use of photovoltaic cells.

Fig 9. Solar sterilization

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10. Solar distillation

The use of solar energy in thermal desalination processes is one of the most promising

applications of the renewable energies. Solar desalination can either be direct; use solar

energy to produce distillate directly in the solar collector, or indirect; combining

conventional desalination techniques, such as multistage flash desalination (MSF), vapor

compression (VC), reverse osmosis (RO), membrane distillation (MD) and electrodialysis,

with solar collectors for heat generation. Direct solar desalination compared with the

indirect technologies requires large land areas and has a relatively low productivity. It is

however competitive to the indirect desalination plants in small-scale production due to its

relatively low cost and simplicity [15]

Fig.10 Solar thermal desalination technologies

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4. Water purifier in rural market.

In the last few years, numerous multinational and national company launches low-cost water filter

is designed to be used in rural households that have no electricity or running water, using ash from

rice milling to filter out bacteria. The device, which will cost less than 1,000 rupees such as The

Tata Swach, Pureit and Zero-B etc. Multinational and national company profit making business and

monopoly in replacement for filter after filtering of 1500-2500 liter of water. Changing for filter it

costs about 40% of new one filter.

5. Conclusion
The provision of clean drinking water has been given priority in the Constitution of India. Various

steps taken by India’s central, state, and local governments taking to address water issues with

community level. One of the greatest challenges has been the convergence of various departments

associated with Water. Role of Civil Society and Communities to create awareness for new low

technology in user in rural area. For example, Anna Hazare has transformed the village of Ralegan

Siddhi in Maharashtra into a model sustainable village through water harvesting and cooperation.

Another example is Rajendra Singh, whose NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh has transformed the Alwar

District of Rajasthan through community-based efforts in water harvesting and water management.

Now time and demands for clean water in every household in rural area with Low cost technology

water treatment technology

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6. Bibliography

1. March 2012 "The Lack of clean water: Root cause of many problems
http://thewaterproject.org/water_scarcity_2#phys=18
2. https://aquamiaqua.wordpress.com/dive-into-the-worlds-water-issues/
3. India’s Water Crisis: Causes and Cures http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=356
4. Drinking water quality in rural India: Issues and approaches
http://www.wateraid.org/~/media/Publications/drinking-water-quality-rural-india.pdf
5. http://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/Water-Safety-Plans-rural-water-supply-
India.pdf
6. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. (1972). Wastewater Engineering. McGraw-Hill Book
Company. ISBN 0-07-041675-3.
7. Primer for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Systems 2004
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/primer.pdf
8. https://www.engineeringforchange.org/static/content/Water/S00024/clay_water_filter_red_cr
oss.pdf
9. https://www.engineeringforchange.org/solution/library/view/detail/Water/S00024
10. Low cost potable water filter https://www.engineeringforchange.org/solution/view/141
11. Fawell, John (2006). Fluoride in drinking-water (1st published.ed.).Geneva:WHO.
p. 47. ISBN 9241563192.
12. thefutureofthings.com/5833-aquaduct-pedal-water-filter/
13. https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/files/CTI8%20InformationManual11.1-pdf.pdf
14. http://www.jbbardot.com/water-filters-and-filtration-systems-remove-fluoride-arsenic-
dangerous-bacteria-heavy-metals-from-your-water-supply/
15. H.M. Qiblawey, F. Banat Solar thermal desalination technologies Desalination, 220 (2008),
pp. 633–644

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