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Metallic Iron Filters for Universal Access to Safe Drinking Water
Author(s) -
Noubactep Chicgoua,
Schöner Angelika,
Woafo Paul
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
clean – soil, air, water
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1863-0669
pISSN - 1863-0650
DOI - 10.1002/clen.200900114
Subject(s) - filtration (mathematics) , millennium development goals , slow sand filter , filter (signal processing) , sustainable development , water treatment , clean water , environmental science , environmental engineering , environmental planning , business , water resource management , engineering , waste management , political science , economic growth , developing country , mathematics , economics , statistics , law , electrical engineering
The availability of sustainable safe drinking water is one of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The world is on schedule to meet the MDG to ‘halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water in 2000’. However, present technologies may still leave more than 600 million people without access to safe water in 2015. The objective of the present article is to present a concept for universal water filters primarily made of metallic iron (Fe 0 ) and sand. The concept of Fe 0 /sand filters is based on a combination of: (i) recent developments in slow sand filtration and (ii) recent progress in understanding the process of contaminant removal in Fe 0 /H 2 O systems. The filters should be made up of more than 60% sand and up to 40% Fe 0 . The actual Fe 0 proportion will depend on its intrinsic reactivity. The most important question to be answered regards the selection of the material to be used. The design of the filter can be derived from existing filters. It appears that Fe 0 /H 2 O based filters could be a technology with worldwide applicability.