Ceramic water filter for point-of-use water treatment in developing countries: Principles, challenges and opportunities

Highlights

• CWF is a sustainable POU water treatment method for developing areas.

• CWF manufacturing process is critical for its filtration performance.

• Simultaneous increase of flow rate and pathogen removal is a challenge.

• Control of pore size distribution holds promises to improve CWF efficiency.

• Novel coatings of CWFs are a promising method to improve contaminant removal.

Abstract

Drinking water source contamination poses a great threat to human health in developing countries. Point-of-use (POU) water treatment techniques, which improve drinking water quality at the household level, offer an affordable and convenient way to obtain safe drinking water and thus can reduce the outbreaks of waterborne diseases. Ceramic water filters (CWFs), fabricated from locally sourced materials and manufactured by local labor, are one of the most socially acceptable POU water treatment technologies because of their effectiveness, low-cost and ease of use. This review concisely summarizes the critical factors that influence the performance of CWFs, including (1) CWF manufacturing process (raw material selection, firing process, silver impregnation), and (2) source water quality. Then, an in-depth discussion is presented with emphasis on key research efforts to address two major challenges of conventional CWFs, including (1) simultaneous increase of filter flow rate and bacterial removal efficiency, and (2) removal of various concerning pollutants, such as viruses and metal(loid)s. To promote the application of CWFs, future research directions can focus on: (1) investigation of pore size distribution and pore structure to achieve higher flow rates and effective pathogen removal by elucidating pathogen transport in porous ceramic and adjusting manufacture parameters; and (2) exploration of new surface modification approaches with enhanced interaction between a variety of contaminants and ceramic surfaces.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Point-of-use water treatment / Ceramic water filter / Bacterial removal / Surface modification / Water quality

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the University of Wisconsin Applied Research Grant (MIL111691) and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Catalyst Grant (MIL113501). The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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