Do low-cost ceramic water filters improve water security in rural South Africa?

Abstract

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> This study examines the performance of a low-cost ceramic candle filter system (CCFS) for point of use (POU) drinking water treatment in the village of Hobeni, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A stepwise laboratory test documented the negative effects of repeated loading and ambient field temperatures. Moreover, CCFS were distributed in Hobeni and a survey was carried out among their users. The performance of 51 CCFS was evaluated by dip slides and related to human factors. Already after two thirds of their specified lifetime, none of the distributed CCFS produced water without distinct contamination and more than one third even deteriorated hygienic water quality. Besides the water source (springs were preferable compared to river or rain water), a high water throughput was the dominant reason for poor CCFS performance. These findings suggest that not every CCFS type per se guarantees improved drinking water security and that the efficiency of low-cost systems should continuously be monitored. For this purpose, dip slides were found to be a cost-efficient alternative to standard laboratory tests. They consistently underestimated microbial counts but can be used by laypersons and hence by the users themselves to assess critical contamination of their filter systems.</p>

Effectiveness of Ceramics Water Filter Pots with Addition of Silver Nitrate to Reduce of Escherichia Coli Contents

“…Well water, harvested rainwater as well as surface runoff can be converted to ceramic water filter pot by subjecting them to filtration using. Besides the water source (springs were preferable compared to river or rain water) our data suggest that a high water throughput was the dominant reason for a ceramics filter pots performance [20], because the quality of water sources can accelerate the process of decreasing the quality of ceramic filters such as clogged filters.…”

A Systematic Literature Review of Ceramic Membranes Applications in Water Treatment

“…As shown in Fig. (4), adding certain coagulants cause destabilization for the colloidal suspensions leading to aggregation of smaller particles [8,11].…”

“…Over 99.8% of death caused by poor quality of drinking water in the developing countries according to World Health Organization (WHO) which make an increased need for safe and adequate large amount of water which is free from physical, chemical, and biological contaminations [4] [5]. Traditional techniques are used for that purpose such as boiling and using UV lamps (heat and UV based systems), flocculation, precipitation, and adsorption (chemical treatment-based systems), settling and filtration (physical removal processes) [6].…”