Household Water

Treatment
Amulla W.
University of Eastern Africa, Baraton.
Department of Public Health
HOUSEHOLD WATER TREATMENT
Globally, nearly two billion people use either unimproved drinking-water
sources or improved sources that are faecally-contaminated. Over half a
million diarrhoeal deaths in low- and middle-income countries are attributed to
inadequate drinking-water, and the vast majority of these deaths occur among
children under 5.
Household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) is an important public
health intervention to improve the quality of drinking-water and reduce
diarrhoeal disease, particularly among those who rely on water from
unimproved sources, and in some cases, unsafe or unreliable piped water
supplies.
Further, safe drinking-water is an immediate priority in most emergencies, and
HWTS can be an effective emergency response intervention.
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Applicability
Household-level water treatment is appropriate when:
A relatively small amount of water is obtained from a well or spring and is
collected and transported by hand.
The source is contaminated and simple protective measures can neither
improve water quality nor stop the contamination.
Community resources are inadequate to meet the cost of a simple community
treatment system and make it difficult to develop a centralised treatment
system.
An emergency situation causes disruption of the service and contamination of
the water supply so that a long-term rapid solution is needed
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PURPOSE
The purpose of water treatment is to reduce or remove all contaminants
that are present in the water and to improve water quality so that it is
completely safe to drink.
Water is unlikely to be completely free of contaminants at the original
source.
The types of water treatment processes depend on the characteristics of
the raw water (untreated water direct from its source) and required
water quality standards.
Water treatment systems can be categorized as small-scale water
treatment, which includes community and household treatment methods, or
large-scale water treatment that might be found in towns and cities

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METHODS
There are several different methods of small-scale water treatment
that can be employed at the household and community level.
Broadly speaking these can be grouped either
as Filtration methods, in which water passes through a porous
barrier (filter) that traps tiny particles including pathogenic
microorganisms and other impurities, and
Disinfection methods, in which contaminants are removed by the
use of various chemicals or by energy from the sun.

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 Filtration Methods
•Household sand filter
•Cloth filtration
•Ceramic filters
•Biosand filters
•Membrane filters
•Nanofiltration
•Ultrafiltration
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Household Sand Filter
Household filters are an
attractive option for household
treatment because these filters
can usually be made from locally
available and inexpensive
materials like clay pots or
barrels. They are simple and
easy to use.

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Household Sand Filter…
The upper pot contains layers of sand and gravel. Water is poured in at the
top and, as it passes through the layers of sand, any particles within it are
filtered out. The thickness of the layers should be approximately 5 cm of
gravel, 5 cm of coarse sand and 10 cm of fine sand.
The bottom of the upper pot should be perforated (have tiny holes in it) so the
clean water can drip into the lower pot. The lower pot should have a tap
(faucet) to draw off the clean water easily. The sand and gravel should be
changed when the rate of filtration starts to slow; at minimum it should be
changed every two or three months.

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Cloth filtration/straining
Straining water is an important first step that, if done correctly, will improve
the effectiveness of all the HH water treatment methods.
Pouring muddy or dirty looking water through a piece of fine, clean cotton
cloth will often remove a certain amount of the suspended solids and insect
larvae contained in the water.
A cotton cloth works best and you should not be able to see through the cloth.
On the other hand, the cloth should not be so thick that it takes a very long
time to filter the water.

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 Cloth filtration/straining…
On the other hand, you can determine
whether the cloth is adequate by using it
to filter the water. If the dirt does not
pass through the cloth then it is working
correctly.
Straining alone is unlikely to make water
from a contaminated source completely
safe to drink. But it makes household
water treatment easier.
Washing the cloth between uses will
make straining more effective

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Ceramic filters
Ceramic filters are easy to use, relatively low cost and have a long
life if the filter remains unbroken. They are good for reduction of
bacteria and protozoa but lack residual protection so
recontamination is possible.
They rely on the small pore size of ceramic material to filterdirt,
debris, and bacteria out of water
The majority of bacteria are removed mechanically through the
filter’s very small (0.6–3.0 microns) pores

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Ceramic filters…

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Biosand filter
Biosand filters differ from the other
types of filter described above in that
they make use of biological activity as
well the mechanical filtering of
particles.
The most widely used version of the
biosand filter is a concrete container
about one metre in height and filled
with sand

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Biosand filter…
The container is filled with water so the water level is above the
sand layer. The water allows a ‘bioactive’ layer to grow on top of
the sand. This bioactive layer consists of algae, plankton and other
microscopic plant life that helps reduce disease-causing organisms,
particularly protozoa and bacteria.
The biosand filter is fairly easy to use, can be produced from
locally available materials, needs little maintenance and has a
long life but it has a high initial cost and is difficult to transport.
It improves the look and taste of the water and is good for
removing protozoa but has a low rate of virus inactivation and
does not remove 100% of bacteria so recontamination is possible.
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Membrane filters
Membrane filters or “membranes” are microporous plastic
films with specific pore size ratings. Also known as screen,
sieve or microporous filters, membranes retain particles or
microorganisms larger than their pore size primarily by
surface capture
Pores range from 0.1microns to 10 microns.
Note: Micron is another name for the micrometre–which is one millionth of a
metre, i.e. a thousandth of a millimetre.

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Membrane filters…

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Membrane filters

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Nanofiltration
Nanofiltration (NF) is a relatively
recent membrane filtration process
used most often with low total
dissolved solids water such as
surface water and fresh
groundwater

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Nanofiltration…

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Sedimentation & Decantation
Sedimentation is the process by which insoluble heavy particles in
a liquid are allowed to settle down.
Decantation is the process by which, a clear liquid obtained after
sedimentation, is transferred into another container, without
disturbing the settled particles
These two techniques can be used to treat HH water.
One of the system that employs these principles is the Three pot
method.

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Three pot method.

The three pot method

reduces dirt and
germs that cause
disease by storing
water in containers,
allowing dirt to settle,
and moving cleaner
water to different
containers over time
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Disinfection Methods
SODIS
Thermal disinfection
Chemical: Chlorination (NaDCC, NaOCl or NaClO; Calcium
hypochlorite)
Combined flocculation and disinfection

http://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.ph
p?id=201&printable=1
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CAUTION!
Disinfection often affect the taste of water:
 Boiling will leave the water tasting flat.
 Solar will make the water hot.

 Chemicals can leave a bad taste.

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