Title :
Ceramic water filter for point-of-use water treatment in Limpopo province, South Africa
Author :
Malapane, Tshepo Alex ; Hackett, Caroline ; Netshandama, Vhonani ; Smith, James
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Venda, South Africa
Abstract :
This paper describes the design of a ceramic water filter factory in Mashamba Village, Limpopo province, South Africa. In rural settings, water contamination occurs mainly at the point-of-use (POU), or household level and water purification in Limpopo province is still a huge challenge. Locally manufactured ceramic water filters have been proven to significantly improve the microbiological quality of water when used as a POU water-treatment technology. Ceramic water filters have been shown to remove up to 99.9% of pathogens. Students from the University of Venda (Univen) and University of Virginia (UVa) have embarked on a collaboration to implement and construct a socially and financially sustainable ceramic filter factory (CFF) which will manufacture ceramic filters for household-level water treatment. The factory was successfully completed in August 2011 at the site of Mukondeni Cooperative Community Based Pottery Project (CCBPP) in Mashamba Village. This CFF is designed to operate under the leadership of the CCBPP. The factory operations system is low cost efficient and technical knowledge is required. Laboratory testing of filters is targeted to be conducted by Univen and UVa students on a regular basis. Water purification technologies on POU in household is highly context-dependent, and further research on the training and management on production of ceramic filters is essential.
Keywords :
biotechnology; contamination; design engineering; filtration; testing; water pollution; water quality; water treatment; Limpopo Province; Mashamba Village; Mukondeni cooperative community based pottery project; POU water-treatment technology; South Africa; University of Venda; University of Virginia; ceramic water filter factory; factory operations system; financially sustainable ceramic filter factory; household-level water treatment; microbiological water quality; point-of-use water treatment; water contamination; water purification; Ceramics; Communities; Educational institutions; Kilns; Production facilities; Water pollution; Water resources;
Conference_Titel :
Systems and Information Design Symposium (SIEDS), 2012 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Charlottesville, VA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-1285-1
DOI :
10.1109/SIEDS.2012.6215150