Ceramic Water Filters for the Removal of Bacterial, Chemical, and Viral Contaminants
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 10
Abstract
In this study, the combination of capture mechanisms in ceramic water filters (doped with hydroxyapatite and alumina) was considered for the removal of contaminants from drinking water. It was found that hydroxyapatite and alumina were conserved during the firing process of the ceramic water filters up to 950°C. The nanopores resulting from the conservation of the additives increased the specific surface area of the ceramic water filters from 3.7 to . On the other hand, the microscopic pores associated with the processing of the ceramic water filters (i.e., pressing and drying) and the combustion of the sawdust reduced the filtration time from 24 to 4 h. The efficiency of the resulting filters in removing bacterial, chemical, and viral contaminants from water was investigated using E. coli, fluoride, and MS2 as model contaminants. The contaminants were found to be captured from water by trapping in the pores, substitution in the hydroxyapatite, and adsorption on the surface of alumina. Hence, the ceramic water filters incorporating hydroxyapatite and alumina combined the different capture mechanisms. They had an efficiency of 99.998%, 99.970%, and 99.450% in the removal of bacterial, chemical, and viral contaminants, corresponding to log reduction values (LRVs) of 4.69, 3.47, and 2.26, respectively.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the CARNOT Mines Institute, the SOLSTICE Laboratory of Excellence, the RAPSODEE Research Center at Mines Albi, and the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Biology and Biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute for financial support. The authors are also grateful to the management and staff of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University for their assistance with the research. Dr. Alex Maag is also thanked for performing the gas sorption analyses in this study.
References
ASTM. 2012. Standard test method for linear-elastic plane-strain fracture toughness of metallic materials. ASTM E399. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2017. Standard test methods for flexural properties of unreinforced and reinforced plastics and electrical insulating materials. ASTM D790. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Barrett, E. P., L. G. Joyner, and P. Halenda. 1951. “The determination of pore volume and area distributions in porous substances. Part I: Computations from nitrogen isotherms.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 73 (1): 373–380. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01145a126.
Bear, J. 1972. Dynamics of fluids in porous media. New York: Elsevier.
Bhatnagar, A., E. Kumar, and M. Sillanpää. 2011. “Fluoride removal from water by adsorption: A review.” Chem. Eng. J. 171 (3): 811–840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2011.05.028.
Bielefeldt, A. R., K. Kowalski, and R. S. Summers. 2009. “Bacterial treatment effectiveness of point-of-use ceramic water filters.” Water Res. 43 (14): 3559–3565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2009.04.047.
Brown, J., and M. D. Sobsey. 2009. “Ceramic media amended with metal oxide for the capture of viruses in drinking water.” Environ. Technol. 30 (4): 379–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330902753461.
Brown, J., and M. D. Sobsey. 2010. “Microbiological effectiveness of locally produced ceramic water filters for drinking water treatment in Cambodia.” J. Water Health 8 (1): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2009.007.
Brunauer, S., P. H. Emmett, and E. Teller. 1938. “Adsorption of gases in multimolecular layers.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 60 (2): 309–319. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01269a023.
De Leeuw, N. H. 2002. “Density functional theory calculations of local ordering of hydroxyl groups and fluoride ions in hydroxyapatite.” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 4 (15): 3865–3871. https://doi.org/10.1039/b203114k.
Hunter, P. R. 2009. “Household water treatment in developing countries: Comparing different interventions types using meta-regression.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 43 (23): 8991–8997. https://doi.org/10.1021/es9028217.
Järup, L. 2003. “Hazards of heavy metal contamination.” Br. Med. Bull. 68 (1): 167–182. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldg032.
Kropinski, A. M., A. Mazzocco, T. E. Waddell, E. Lingohr, and R. P. Johnson. 2009. “Enumeration of bacteriophages by double agar overlay plaque assay.” In Vol. 501 of Bacteriophages: Methods in molecular biology, edited by M. R. Clokie, and A. M. Kropinski, 69–76. New York: Humana Press.
Lantagne, D. S. 2001. Investigation of the potters for peace colloidal silver-impregnated ceramic filter: Intrinsic effectiveness and field performance in rural Nicaragua. Allston, MA: Alethia Environmental.
Meenakshi, A., and R. C. Maheshwari. 2006. “Fluoride in drinking water and its removal.” J. Hazard. Mater. 137 (1): 456–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2006.02.024.
Michen, B., J. Fritsch, C. Aneziris, and T. Graule. 2013. “Improved virus removal in ceramic depth filters modified with MgO.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 47 (3): 1526–1533. https://doi.org/10.1021/es303685a.
Michen, B., F. Meder, A. Rust, J. Fritsch, C. Aneziris, and T. Graule. 2012. “Virus removal in ceramic depth filters based on diatomaceous earth.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 46 (2): 1170–1177. https://doi.org/10.1021/es2030565.
Nigay, P. M., A. Nzihou, C. E. White, and W. O. Soboyejo. 2018. “Removal mechanisms of contaminants in ceramic water filters.” J. Environ. Eng. 144 (12): 04018128. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0001471.
Oyanedel-Craver, V. A., and J. A. Smith. 2008. “Sustainable colloidal-silver-impregnated ceramic filter for point-of-use water treatment.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 42 (3): 927–933. https://doi.org/10.1021/es071268u.
Racaniello, V. R. 2006. “One hundred years of poliovirus pathogenesis.” Virology 344 (1): 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2005.09.015.
Ramia, S. 1985. “Transmission of viral infections by the water route: Implications for developing countries.” Rev. Infect. Dis. 7 (2): 180–188. https://doi.org/10.1093/clinids/7.2.180.
Sobsey, M. D., C. E. Stauber, L. M. Casanova, J. M. Brown, and M. A. Elliott. 2008. “Point of use household drinking water filtration: A practical, effective solution for providing sustained access to safe drinking water in the developing world.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 42 (12): 4261–4267. https://doi.org/10.1021/es702746n.
Tsao, N. H., K. A. Malatesta, N. E. Anuku, and W. O. Soboyejo. 2016. “Virus filtration in porous iron (III) oxide doped ceramic water filters.” Adv. Mater. Res. 1132: 284–294. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1132.284.
van der Laan, H., D. van Halem, P. W. M. H. Smeets, A. I. A. Soppe, J. Kroesbergen, G. Wubbels, J. Nederstigt, I. Gensburger, and S. G. J. Heijman. 2014. “Bacteria and virus removal effectiveness of ceramic pot filters with different silver applications in a long term experiment.” Water Res. 51 (Mar): 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.11.010.
Van Halem, D. 2006. “Ceramic silver impregnated pot filters for household drinking water treatment in developing countries.” M.Sc. thesis, Dept. of Water Management, Delft Univ. of Technology.
WHO (World Health Organization). 2001. Water for health: Taking charge. Geneva: WHO.
Yakub, I., et al. 2013. “Porosity, flow, and filtration characteristics of frustum-shaped ceramic water filters.” J. Environ. Eng. 139 (7): 986–994. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000669.
Yakub, I., and W. O. Soboyejo. 2013. “Adsorption of fluoride from water using sintered clay-hydroxyapatite composites.” J. Environ. Eng. 139 (7): 995–1003. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000692.
Yi, Q., F. Qi, G. Cheng, Y. Zhang, B. Xiao, Z. Hu, S. Liu, H. Cai, and S. Xu. 2013. “Thermogravimetric analysis of co-combustion of biomass and biochar.” J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 112 (3): 1475–1479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2744-1.
Younes, M., and H. Galal-Gorchev. 2000. “Pesticides in drinking water: A case study.” Food Chem. Toxicol. 38 (1): S87–S90. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-6915(99)00132-5.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 10 • October 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 19, 2018
Accepted: Feb 25, 2019
Published online: Aug 8, 2019
Published in print: Oct 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jan 8, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.