Introducing The Physical Treatment Methods

The following technologies are among the most commonly used physical methods of purifying water:

Heat Treatment - Boiling is one way to purify water of all pathogens. Most experts feel that if the water reaches a rolling boil it is safe. A few still hold out for maintaining the boiling for some length of time, commonly 5 or 10 minutes, plus an extra minute for every l000 feet of elevation. One reason for the long period of boiling is to inactivate bacterial spores (which can survive boiling), but these spore are unlikely to be waterborne pathogens. Water can also be treated at below boiling temperatures, if contact time is increased. Commercial units are available for residential use, which treat 500 gals of water per day at an estimated cost of $1/1000 gallons for the energy. The process is similar to milk pasteurization, and holds the water at 161" F for 15 seconds. Heat exchangers recover most of the energy used to warm the water. Solar pasteurizers have also been built that can heat three gallons of water to 65 " C and hold the temperature for an hour. A higher temperature could be reached, if the device was rotated east to west during the day to follow the sunlight. Regardless of the method, heat treatment does not leave any form of residual to keep the water free of pathogens in storage.

Reverse Osmosis - Reverse osmosis forces water, under pressure, through a membrane that is impermeable to most contaminants. The membrane is somewhat better at rejecting salts than it is at rejecting non-ionized weak acids and bases and smaller organic molecules (molecular weight below 200). In the latter category are undissociated weak organic acids, amines, phenols, chlorinated hydrocarbons, some pesticides and low molecular weight alcohols. Larger organic molecules and all pathogens are rejected. Of course, it is possible to have a imperfection in the membrane that could allow molecules or whole pathogens to pass through. Using reverse osmosis to desalinate seawater requires considerable pressure (1000 psi) to operate. Reverse osmosis filters are available that will use normal municipal or private water pressure to remove contaminates from water. The water produced by reverse osmosis, like distilled water, will be close to pure H,O. Therefore mineral intake may need to be increased to compensate for the normal mineral content of water in much of the world.

Distillation - Distillation is the evaporation and condensation of water to purify water. Distillation has two disadvantages: 1) A large energy input is required and 2) If simple distillation is used, chemical contaminants with boiling points below water will be condensed along with the water. Distillation is most commonly used to remove dissolved minerals and salts from water. The simplest form of a distillation for use in the home is a solar still. A solar still uses solar radiation to evaporate water below the boiling point, and the cooler ambient air to condense the vapor. The water can be extracted from the soil, vegetation piled in the still, or contaminated water (such as radiator fluid or salt water) can be added to the still. While per still output is low, they are an important technique if water is in short supply. Other forms of distillation require a concentrated heat source to boil water which is then condensed. Simple stills use a coiling coil to return this heat to the environment. Efficient distillations plants use a vapor compression cycle where the water is boiled off at atmospheric pressure, the steam is compressed, and the condenser condenses the steam above the boiling point of the water in the boiler, returning the heat of fusion to the boiling water. The hot condensed water is run through a second heat exchanger, which heats up the water feeding into the boiler. These plants normally use an internal combustion engine to run the compressor. Waste heat from the engine, including the exhaust, is used to start the process and make up any heat loss.

Microfilters - Microfilters are small-scale filters designed to remove cysts, suspended solids, protozoa, and, in some cases, bacteria from water. Most filters use a ceramic or fiber element that can be cleaned to restore performance as the units are used. Most units and almost all made for camping use a hand pump to force the water through the filter. Others use gravity, either by placing the water to be filtered above the filter (e.g. the Katadyn drip filter), or by placing the filter in the water, and running a siphon hose to a collection vessel located below the filter (e.g. Katadyn siphon filter). Microfilters are the only method, other than boiling, to remove Cryptosporidia. Microfilters do not remove viruses, whch many experts do not consider to be a problem in North America. Despite this, the Katadyn microfilter has seen considerable use around the world by NATO-member militaries, WHO, UNHCR, and other aid organizations. Microfilters share a problem with charcoal filter in having bacteria grow on the filter medium. Some handle this by impregnating the filter element with silver, such as the Katadyn, others advise against storage of a filter element after it has been used. Many microfilters may include silt prefilters, activated charcoal stages, or an iodine resin. Most filters come with a stainless steel prefilter, but other purchased or improvised filters can be added to reduce the loading on the main filter element. Allowing time for solids to settle, and/or prefiltering will also extend filter life. Iodine matrix filters will kill viruses that will pass through the filter, and if a charcoal stage is used it will remove much ,of the iodme from the water. Charcoal filters will also remove other dissolved natural or manmade contaminates. Both the iodine and the charcoal stages do not indicate when they reach their useful life, which is much shorter than the filter element.

Slow Sand Filter - Slow sand filters pass water slowly through a bed of sand. Pathogens and turbidity are removed by natural die-off, biological action, and filtering. Typically the filter will consist of a layer of sand, then a gravel layer in which the drain pipe is embedded. The gravel doesn't touch the walls of the filter, so that water can't run quickly down the wall of the filter and into the gravel. Building the walls with a rough surface also helps. A typical loading rate for the filter is 0.2 meterskour day (the same as 0.2 m3/m2 of surface area). The filter can be cleaned several times before the sand has to be replaced. Slow sand filters should only be used for continuous water treatment. If a continuous supply of raw water can't be insured (say, using a holding tank), then another method should be chosen. It is also important for the water to have as low turbidity (suspended solids) as possible. Turbidity can be reduced by changing the method of collection (for example, building an infiltration gallery, rather than taking water directly from a creek), allowing time for the material to settle out (using a raw water tank), prefiltering or flocculation (adding a chemical, such as alum to cause the suspended material to floc together.) The SSF filter itself is a large box. The walls should be as rough as possible to reduce the tendency for water to run down the walls of the filter, bypassing the sand. The bottom layer of the filter is a gravel bed, in which a slotted pipe is placed to drain off the filtered water. The slots or the gravel should be no closer than 20 cm to the walls, again, to prevent the water from bypassing the sand. The sand for a SSF needs to be clean and uniform, and of the correct size. The sand can be cleaned in clean running water , even if it is in a creek. The ideal specs on sand are effective size (sieve size through which 10% of the sand passes) between 0.15 and 0.35 mm, uniformity coefficient (ratio of sieve sizes through which 60% pass and through which 10% pass) of less than 3; maximum size of 3 mm, and minimum size of 0.1 mm. The sand is added to a SSF to a minimum depth of 0.6 meters. Additional thickness will allow more cleanings before the sand must be replaced. 0.3 to 0.5 meters of extra sand will allow the filter to work for 3-4 years. An improved design uses a geotextile layer on top of the sand to reduce the frequency of cleaning. The outlet of a SSF must be above the sand level, and below the water level. The water must be maintained at a constant level to insure an even flow rate throughout the filter. The flow rate can be increased by lowering the outlet pipe, or increasing the water level. While the SSF will begin to work at once, optimum treatment for pathogens will take a week or more. During this time the water should be chlorinated, if at all possible (iodine can be substituted). After the filter has stabilized, the water should be safe to drink, but chlorinating of the output is still a good idea, particularly to prevent recontamination. As the flow rate slows down the filter will have to be cleaned by draining and removing the top few inches of sand. If a geotextile filter is used, only the top %" may have to be removed. As the filter is refilled, it will take a few days for the biological processes to reestablish themselves.

Activated Charcoal Filter - Activated charcoal filters water through adsorption; chemicals and some heavy metals are attracted to the surface of the charcoal, and are attached to it. Charcoal filters will filter some pathogens, though they will quickly use up the filter adsorptive ability, and can even contribute to contamination, as the charcoal provides an excellent breeding ground for bacteria and algae. Some charcoal filters are available impregnated with silver to prevent this, though current research concludes that the bacteria growing on the filter are harmless, even if the water wasn't disinfected before contacting the filter. Activated charcoal can be used in conjunction with chemical treatment. The chemical (iodine or chlorine) will lull the pathogens, while the carbon filter will remove the treatment chemicals. In this case, as the filter reaches its capacity, a distinctive chlorine or iodine taste will be noted. The more activated charcoal in a filter, the longer it will last. The bed of carbon must be deep enough for adequate contact with the water. Production designs use granulated activated charcoal (effective size or 0.6 to 0.9 mm for maximum flow rate). Home or field models can also use a compressed carbon block or powered activated charcoal (effective size 0.01) to increase contact area. Powered charcoal can also be mixed with water and filtered out later. As far as life of the filter is concerned, carbon block filters will last the longest for a given size, simply due to their greater mass of carbon. A source of pressure is usually needed with carbon block filters to achieve a reasonable flow rate.