Introduction to Water Purification
This factsheet is the Water Purification Tools site.
Water Purification
This section compiles hardware and software tools for water purification before domestic, agricultural and/or industrial use. When selecting appropriate instruments, the application level (household or centralised level) as well as the required water quality need to be considered. The approach used for purification depends strongly on the form of water contamination that prevails: (organic pollutants e.g. from agriculture and households, turbidity, chemical pollutants, etc.)
- Hardware
- Software
- Sections
- Point-of-Use Water Treatment
- Creating and Enabling Environment
- Water Purification in Emergencies
- Awareness Raising
- Economic Tools
- (Semi-)centralised Drinking Water Treatments
- Command and Control Tools
Point-of-Use Water Treatment
SODIS
When microbially polluted water is exposed to solar light in transparent PET bottles, bacteria, virus and some parasites are inactivated by the solar…
UV-tubes
The bactericidal effect of concentrated ultraviolet (UV) light is used in many areas and in many set-ups. For drinking water treatment, simple,…
WATA™
Chlorination, which means adding active chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) to water, is the most common method used for disinfecting of drinking water.…
Biosand Filter
The biosand filter (BSF) is a simple household water treatment device, which is an innovation on traditional slow sand filters specifically designed…
Chlorination
Water disinfection by chlorination was massively introduced in the early twentieth century. It set off a technological revolution in water treatment…
Colloidal Silver Filter
Colloidal Silver Filters (CSF) are simple household water treatment devices based on a physical treatment, which does not require energy supply. CSFs…
Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS)
Lack of improved access to safe drinking water together inadequate sanitation and hygiene are the overwhelming contributors to the 1.8 million annual…
Boiling
Boiling drinking water with fuel is the oldest and most commonly practiced household water treatment method. According to WHO, water needs to be…
Ceramic Candle Filter
Ceramic candle filters are simple devices made out of clay and used to filter drinking water in order to removes turbidity, suspended materials and…
Sedimentation
Sedimentation is recommended as simple pre-treatment of water prior to application of other purification treatments such as filtration and…
Straining and Filtration
Straining is a very simple method of filtration. In this process, water is poured through a piece of cloth, which removes some of the suspended silt…
Solar Pasteurisation
Contrary to belief, it is not necessary to boil certain water to make it safe to drink. Heating water to 65°C (149°F) for 6 minutes, or to a higher…
Water Quality Testing
In many parts of the world, water is not safe enough to drink. There are basic qualitative observations that quickly determine if water is not safe…
Advanced Filters
Advanced point-of-use filter systems of various designs, costs and effectiveness are today readily available all over the world. While these systems…
Arsenic Removal Technologies
Safe Storage
The health implications of inadequate water and sanitation services include an estimated 4 billion cases of diarrhoea and 1.9 million deaths each…
Creating and Enabling Environment
Creating Policies and a Legal Framework (WP)
A core governmental role is to formulate policies, through which the government can delimit the activities of all sanitation and water management…
Building an Institutional Framework (WP)
The term “institutional framework” refers to a set of formal organisational structures, rules and informal norms for service provision. Such a…
Bundling and Unbundling of Functions (WP)
The clear allocation of functions for the implementation of sustainable sanitation and water management is crucial for its outcomes. Overlapping…
Strengthening Enforcement Bodies (WP)
Enforcement bodies have a very important role in establishing and ensuring the effective application of other software tools in sustainable…
Decentralisation (WP)
In order to increase sanitation and water management efficiency and improve equity and justice for local people, a participatory and community-based…
Public Private Partnerships (WP)
The public sector might not be able to cope with the challenges regarding sanitation and water management and therefore cooperates with the private…
Privatisation (WP)
“Public sector utilities in developing countries have often not been efficient in providing access to reliable water and sanitation services. [...]…
Nationalisation (WP)
The nationalisation of sanitation and water management is one option for (local) governments to cope with the increasing problem of lacking…
Developing Human Resources (WP)
The development of human resources is at the core of sustainable development. People and communities that are empowered with the necessary knowledge…
Integrity Management for Water Sector Organizations
Integrity Management (IM) is a change management approach to reduce unnecessary losses from corruption and bad practice in human resources,…
Water Purification in Emergencies
POU Water Purification in Emergencies
Following an emergency, the affected population frequently lacks access to a safe source of drinking water. Treatment at the Point-of-Use (POU) is a…
Community and Camp Water Supply
When dealing with large groups of people, water emergencies might require small-scale centralised water treatment and supply systems to provide…
Water Purification in Emergencies Overview
Awareness Raising
School Campaigns (WP)
A school campaign on water and sanitation consists of two main components: one component is the provision of safe water and sanitation facilities in…
SSWM in School Curriculums (WP)
This tool involves the integration of relevant sustainable water, hygiene and sanitation topics into school education in order to increase knowledge…
Empowering Young People as Promoters (WP)
Empowering young people as promoters in the field of water and sanitation is a way of assuring that a project or programme has a greater effect and…
Media Campaigns - Internet and Email (WP)
The media (television, radio, print media, internet and email) play a significant role in spreading information and raising awareness on water and…
Media Campaigns - Posters and Flyers (WP)
The media (television, radio, print media, internet and email) play a significant part in spreading information on Sustainable Sanitation and Water…
Media Campaigns - Radio (WP)
The media (television, radio, print media, internet and email) play a significant role in spreading information and raising awareness on water and…
Media Campaigns - Video (WP)
The media (video, radio, print media, internet and email) play a significant part in spreading information on SSWM and in awareness raising. They…
Creating Information Material (WP)
Creating appropriate and specific information materials for water and sanitation programmes is of key importance and a way to assure a strong and…
Advocacy - Influencing Leaders (WP)
"Advocacy is the action of delivering an argument to gain commitment from political and social leaders and to prepare a society for a particular…
Corporate Social Responsibility (WP)
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while…
Social Marketing (WP)
Social marketing is the use of commercial marketing techniques to promote the adoption of behaviour that will improve the health or well-being of the…
Economic Tools
Subsidies (WP)
A subsidy (also known as a subvention) is a form of financial assistance paid to an individual, a business or an economic sector in order to achieve…
(Semi-)centralised Drinking Water Treatments
Advanced Oxidation Processes
Hazardous organic waste, widely spread in water by industrial, military and domestic sources, is an emerging issue. Advanced Oxidation Processes (…
Treatment Plant Set-up
Centralised drinking water treatment plants treat large amounts of water from many households in one single spot and consequently most often require…
Slow Sand Filtration
Slow sand filtration is a type of centralised or semi-centralised water purification system. A well-designed and properly maintained slow sand filter…
Rapid Sand Filtration
Rapid sand filtration is a purely physical drinking water purification method. Rapid sand filters (RSF) provide rapid and efficient removal of…
Bank Filtration
Bank filtration is the infiltration of surface water, mostly from a river system into a groundwater system induced by water abstraction close to the…
Sedimentation (centralised)
Sedimentation is a simple, physical pre-treatment of water prior to application of other purification treatments such as filtration and disinfection…
Adsorption (Activated Carbon)
Activated carbon filtration is a commonly used technology based on the adsorption of contaminants onto the surface of a filter. This method is…
Membrane Filtration
Membranes are thin and porous sheets of material able to separate contaminants from water when a driving force is applied. Once considered a viable…
Coagulation-Flocculation
Coagulation-flocculation is a chemical water treatment technique typically applied prior to sedimentation and filtration (e.g. rapid sand filtration…
Ion Exchange
Ion exchange is a water treatment method where one or more undesirable ionic contaminants are removed from water by exchange with another non-…
Chlorination (centralised)
As an effective yet inexpensive disinfectant, chlorination is the most commonly used disinfection method in drinking water treatment plants all over…
Ozonation
Ozonation (also referred to as ozonisation) is a chemical water treatment technique based on the infusion of ozone into water. Ozone is a gas…
H2O2
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a colourless water-like liquid, is one of the most versatile, reliable and environmentally friendly oxidising agents. The…
Desalination
The chemical process of changing seawater into potable or fresh water is called desalination. Thermal distillation and membrane processes are the two…
Command and Control Tools
Standards (WP)
Standards are requirements based on risk limits. They are often established by authorities to impose levels of pollution control by determining…
Restrictions (WP)
Restrictions and prohibitions are a part of command & control tools, i.e. which are regulatory instruments that are direct and mandatory.…
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