Innovative filtration system based on silver activated sand combined with adsorption processes to remove water borne bacteria.

Abstract

Waterborne diseases significantly contribute to illness and death among children under five in Kenya. This is primarily due to insufficient and affordable infrastructure for water treatment. The majority of the water in Kenya fails to comply with drinking water standards established by KEBS and WHO, thereby posing a risk for waterborne diseases. To guarantee safe and readily available drinking water for everyone by the year 2030 as per SDG 6, it is essential to invest in proper affordable water treatment infrastructure, provide sanitation facilities, and encourage good hygiene practices. Domestic water treatment at point of use, is a crucial engineering intervention to address daily and emergency domestic water supply requirements. Traditional and conventional HWT methods have inherent technical and economic limitations that make HWT unsustainable, the study is premised on innovative and unique method of water treatment by utilizing silver activated sand to develop a device capable of treating water to meet KEBS and WHO requirements of drinking water. This study aimed to design, construct, and evaluate the performance of a domestic activated sand purification device for removal of physical, chemical and biological contaminants from polluted water. The activated sand used is a sand-type catalytic disinfectant mainly composed of silica, aluminum silicate, silver, Iron and copper. The physical and chemical properties of the filter material were investigated using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), microscopic and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).  Leaching of silver into the effluent was conducted through Atomic absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). Water quality parameters were conducted using standard methods and equipment. Through iterative design process the optimum design was a multi-layered filter media consisting of five layers packed to facilitate the removal of pollutants at each layer. Biological removal efficiencies were 100% for Salmonella, 100% for Shigella, 100% for S. faecalis, 99.9% for total coliform bacteria, and 99% for filter cartridges 1 and 2, respectively. The results clearly demonstrate that the silver-activated water purification system provides an effective and sustainable solution for improving domestic water quality by utilizing the antimicrobial properties of silver. This system addresses significant public health problems associated with waterborne diseases.

Keywords: Household, drinking water, Point of use, Salmonella, Shigella, Coliforms, S.faecalis

DOI: 10.7176/JEES/14-6-02

Publication date: December 30th 2024