World Water Week has just ended; the need for clean, safe drinking water in many parts of the developing world hasn’t, however. While some scientists and engineers have focused on high-tech solutions to this crisis, Dr. Jeffrey Amburgey and his students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte ground their water purification research in the KISS principle: “… make it as simple as possible.”
Amburgey and team have focused on the development of a “rapid sand filter” system that allows for efficient, low-cost water treatment with readily-available materials. According to Amburgey, “All that is needed is some PVC pipe, sand and inexpensive treatment chemicals.”
The results so far: a 99% removal rate of Cryptosporidium oocysts, a parasitic organism that can work its way through other sand filtering systems (and cause some pretty nasty illnesses). Amburgey’s rapid filter system also has geographical flexibility built in: indigenous sands and crushed rocks can be adapted for use with the technology.
Flashy and cutting-edge? No. Inexpensive, appropriate, and probably life-saving? You betcha!
Source: UNCC via Science Daily and Lighter Footstep
Image: Dr. Amburgey’s students with the rapid sand filter, courtesy of University of North Carolina – Charlotte.
April 16th, 2009 - 3:50 pm
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April 22nd, 2009 - 2:01 pm
My home e-mail address is: annettestinnett@yahoo.com if you would like to reply at both addresses just in case it gets blocked here at work.
I am the Chairperson of Rural Water District #8 for the Briggs Community in Cherokee County, Oklahoma. We buy our water from the City of Tahlequah and sell it to our customers in our community.
What scares me is our state’s water plan and the possibilty of our rural communities “going dry” just to keep water flowing to Tulsa and Oklahoma City. It is also scary to me to be so dependent upon Tahlequah as our only water source.
Our community is located right on the Illinois River and we have about 330 customers. Do you have any suggestions for water harvesting or a low-cost “Sandman” water treatment facility that could be constructed?
Thank You. Happy Earth Day!
July 6th, 2009 - 7:28 pm
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