Porous Ceramic Tablet Embedded with Silver Nanopatches for Low-Cost Point-of-Use Water Purification

Ehdaie, Beeta; Krause, Carly F.; Smith, James A.

doi:10.1021/es503534c

Cited by 63 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…SMNS/15/MBY/08/0306. This study investigated the performance of a novel silver-impregnated ceramic for water disinfection [32]. The water treatment intervention tested here consisted of approximately 100 ceramic cubes, each approximately 1 cm 3 in volume, and packaged in a single box of about 130 g (Figure 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and Acceptance of Novel Silver-Impregnated Ceramic Cubes for Drinking Water Treatment in Two Field Sites: Limpopo Province, South Africa and Dodoma Region, Tanzania

Kahler

Koermer

Reichl

et al. 2016

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Diarrheal disease and environmental enteropathy are serious public health concerns in low-income countries. In an effort to reduce enteric infection, researchers at the University of Virginia developed a new point-of-use (POU) water treatment technology composed of silver-impregnated porous ceramic media. The ceramic is placed in a 15 L plastic container of water in the evening and the water is ready to drink in the morning. The purpose of this study was to assess field performance and local acceptance of technology in two communities in Limpopo Province, South Africa, and one community in Dodoma Region, Tanzania. Performance was determined by coliform testing of treated water. Acceptance was determined using data from 150 household surveys and a nine-day structured observational study at a local primary school. At the primary school, 100% of treated water samples had no detectable levels of total coliform bacteria (TCB) in buckets filled by researchers. For all treated school buckets, 74% of samples achieved less than or equal to 1 CFU/100 mL and 3.2 average log reduction of TCB. Laboratory experiments with highly contaminated water diluted to lower turbidity achieved 4.2 average log reduction of TCB. Turbid water (approximately 10 NTU) only achieved 1.1 average log reduction of TCB; turbidity and organic material may have interfered with disinfection. The Tanzania primary school (deep groundwater source) had less turbid water and achieved 1.4 average log reduction of TCB; however, it did have high chloride levels that may have interfered with silver disinfection. The surveys revealed that the majority of people retrieve, store, and dispense water in ways that are compatible with the new technology. The willingness-to-pay study revealed potential customers would be willing to pay for the technology without subsidies. The results of this study indicate that this novel silver-impregnated ceramic POU water treatment technology is both effective and appropriate for use in the study communities.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and Acceptance of Novel Silver-Impregnated Ceramic Cubes for Drinking Water Treatment in Two Field Sites: Limpopo Province, South Africa and Dodoma Region, Tanzania

Kahler

Koermer

Reichl

et al. 2016

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although there are several types, the Me/MeO ENMs most-commonly applied for water treatment/environmental remediation are nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) [17,18,39], TiO 2 [40][41][42][43][44], Ag [11,15,[44][45][46][47], and ZnO [48,49]. Some of the mechanisms for water treatment or remediation include adsorption, chemical degradation, photodegradation, and chemical disinfection.…”

Section: Metal and Metal Oxidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineered nanomaterials for water treatment and remediation: Costs, benefits, and applicability

Adeleye

Conway

Garner

et al. 2016

Chemical Engineering Journal

675

229

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The silver-embedded ceramic tablets described by Ehdaie et al [17] show potential in addressing some of the challenges seen with current PoUWT methods. The novel, low-cost method of embedding silver in ceramic media is placed in a water storage container, where it releases silver ions into water for microbiological disinfection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a Silver-Embedded Ceramic Tablet as a Primary and Secondary Point-of-Use Water Purification Technology in Limpopo Province, S. Africa

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes point-of-use water treatment (PoUWT) technologies as effective means to improve water quality. This paper investigates long-term performance and social acceptance of a novel PoUWT technology, a silver-infused ceramic tablet, in Limpopo Province, South Africa. When placed in a water storage container, the silver-embedded ceramic tablet releases silver ions into water, thereby disinfecting microbial pathogens and leaving the water safe for human consumption. As a result of its simplicity and efficiency, the silver-embedded ceramic tablet can serve as a stand-alone PoUWT method and as a secondary PoUWT to improve exisitng PoUWT methods, such as ceramic water filters. In this paper, three PoUWT interventions were conducted to evaluate the silver-embedded ceramic tablet: (1) the silver-embedded ceramic tablet as a stand-alone PoUWT method, (2) ceramic water filters stand-alone, and (3) a filter-tablet combination. The filter-tablet combination evaluates the silver-embedded ceramic tablet as a secondary PoUWT method when placed in the lower reservoir of the ceramic water filter system to provide residual disinfection post-filtration. Samples were collected from 79 households over one year and analyzed for turbidity, total silver levels and coliform bacteria. Results show that the silver-embedded ceramic tablet effectively reduced total coliform bacteria (TC) and E. coli when used as a stand-alone PoUWT method and when used in combination with ceramic water filters. The silver-embedded ceramic tablet’s performance as a stand-alone PoUWT method was comparable to current inexpensive, single-use PoUWT methods, demonstrating 100% and 75% median reduction in E. coli and TC, respectively, after two months of use. Overall, the the filter-tablet combination performed the best of the three interventions, providing a 100% average percent reduction in E. coli over one year. User surveys were also conducted and indicated that the silver-embedded ceramic tablet was simple to use and culturally appropriate. Also, silver levels in all treated water samples remained below 20 μg/L, significantly lower than the drinking water standard of 100 μg/L, making it safe for consumption. Long-term data demonstrates that the silver-embedded ceramic tablet has beneficial effects even after one year of use. This study demonstrates that the silver-embedded ceramic tablet can effectively improve water quality when used alone, or with ceramic water filters, to reduce rates of recontamination. Therefore, the tablet has the potential to provide a low-cost means to purify water in resource-limited settings.

show abstract

Porous Ceramic Tablet Embedded with Silver Nanopatches for Low-Cost Point-of-Use Water Purification

Cited by 63 publications

References 29 publications

Performance and Acceptance of Novel Silver-Impregnated Ceramic Cubes for Drinking Water Treatment in Two Field Sites: Limpopo Province, South Africa and Dodoma Region, Tanzania

Performance and Acceptance of Novel Silver-Impregnated Ceramic Cubes for Drinking Water Treatment in Two Field Sites: Limpopo Province, South Africa and Dodoma Region, Tanzania

Engineered nanomaterials for water treatment and remediation: Costs, benefits, and applicability

Evaluation of a Silver-Embedded Ceramic Tablet as a Primary and Secondary Point-of-Use Water Purification Technology in Limpopo Province, S. Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About