Design and Development of Ceramic Water Filters for Household Drinking Water Treatment and Indicator Bacteria Removal

Background and Objective: Contamination of drinking water is a persistent problem in developing countries like Ethiopia. Ceramic water filtration is a method that uses the advantage of a porous ceramic medium to filter microbial contaminants from water without introducing new hazards. The purpose of this study was to design and develop ceramic pot water filters from locally available materials at a laboratory scale and evaluate their performance concerning flow rate, turbidity reduction and bacterial removal efficiency from contaminated water sources. Materials and Methods: The volume ratios of clay to sawdust of the developed filters were 50:50, 53:47, 55:45, 60:40 and 65:35. These ratios were mixed dry thoroughly and then mixed with water to prepare a wet mix. The wet mixture was pressed in a pot-shaped container to the final shape, dried and fired at 600°C for 6 hrs in a furnace. The filters were checked for their performance concerning flow rate, turbidity reduction and bacterial removal efficiencies. Results: The flow rates of the 50:50, 53:47, 55:45, 60:40 and 65:35 filters were 12, 8, 6, 3 and 2 mL/hr, respectively when the water level was maintained at its maximum height. All the developed filters reduced turbidity to less than 5 NTU. Indicator bacteria were used to quantify bacterial removal efficiencies of the developed ceramic water filters. The filters removed more than 98% of the total coliform and 100% of the fecal coliform indicator bacteria from contaminated water sources. Conclusion: Ceramic water filters can be manufactured from locally available resources. Further investigation and scaling up of the filters are crucial to provide safe drinking water to prevent and control waterborne diseases.