| In recent years the number of peri-urban households receiving clean water has increased, as a result of infrastructural development and the supply of water tanker services. However, for many rural communities, access to clean bacterial free water still remains a privilege, leaving many remote communities vulnerable to disease and infection.
Illnesses arising from drinking contaminated water, however, could soon be a problem of the past as research in water treatment technology has contributed significantly to improving health in rural communities.
In an interview with Professor Lingam Pillay, from the Department of Chemical Engineering, he outlined the advantages of his project titled, the Remote Rural Water Treatment System (RRWTS). He said the idea behind the research stemmed from developing more robust technology that will be suitable for developing economies. The system is specifically designed for extreme rural areas where there exists no viable water supply option at present. The RRWTS uses unique membrane technology developed at DUT. The system is very simple, and consists of a water tank that contains multiple membrane filters and a permeate outlet
The advantages of the system include: it has a high flow rate; it uses gravitation to filter contaminated water through the membrane filters; the membranes are very robust and are not destroyed by rough-handling or drying, like current commercial membranes. The RRWTS is inexpensive, mobile, electricity independent, not time consuming, safe and user friendly.
Prof Pillay said: “The membrane filters works with gravity to remove most of the impurities in contaminated water. However, it is used in conjunction with a disinfectant, like Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution, commonly known asbleach, to destroy any remaining micro-contaminants in the product water. The RRWTS has undergone extensive testing by Umgeni Water and the system is currently being tested by technologists and researchers in China and Thailand. Field trials will be conducted at a rural village located in the Eastern Cape in July.”
He said previous research revealed the need to include a residual disinfectant in the product water, as communities in rural settings were exposed to secondary contamination that came from the use of unsterilized utensils or alternatively from bacteria in water pipes. He said by adding a few drops of the NaOCl solution to the system, it neutralises any bacteria in the RRWTS product, and continues to disinfect utensils used as storing vessels. The RRWTS technology has been patented in South Africa, and an international patent application has been initiated.
Prof Pillay received an Innovation Award from the Water Research Commission (WRC) in February, for his previous research in the water treatment field. The award acknowledged Prof Pillay’s research in Capillary Ultra-filtration Membrane, as an innovation leading to commercial application in South Africa’s water sector. - Karishma Ganpath |
