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Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use

Access to clean water is a major challenge, especially for developing countries facing water-related emergencies. Therefore, this study aims to propose a lowcost, portable water purification system that utilises agricultural waste as filter media. The filter media used were corn cobs, modified activ...

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Main Author: Kee, Kelvin Ming Ern
Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
Published: 2023
Subjects:
TP Chemical technology
Online Access:http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5578/1/1802883_FYP_Report.pdf
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5578/
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spelling my-utar-eprints.55782023-07-03T17:41:56Z Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use Kee, Kelvin Ming Ern TP Chemical technology Access to clean water is a major challenge, especially for developing countries facing water-related emergencies. Therefore, this study aims to propose a lowcost, portable water purification system that utilises agricultural waste as filter media. The filter media used were corn cobs, modified activated carbon (AC) and fruit peels (orange, dragon fruit, and banana peels) housed in a plastic drawer. This study evaluated the performance of the fruit peels in removing Fe3+ ions at different pH levels and concentrations. Additionally, this study also tested the antibacterial properties of AC coated with silver nanoparticles. Results showed that the best Fe3+ biosorption occurred when the initial concentration of Fe3+ was 25 mg/L at pH 7. The values of the maximum percentage removal of Fe3+ were 94.2879 %, 94.2358 % and 92.4361 % for banana, orange and dragon fruit peels, respectively. Furthermore, the ANOVA analysis results suggested that the type of fruit peels was insignificant as the biosorption capabilities of the proposed fruit peels were comparable under optimum conditions. Hence, orange, dragon fruit and banana peels are good candidates for Fe3+ removal. Besides, the AC coated with silver nanoparticles did inhibit the growth of E.coli, making it an excellent material for contaminant removal and water disinfection. Moreover, the proposed filtration system was able to reduce the Fe3+ concentration, conductivity, and turbidity values of the synthetic polluted water by 98.62 %, 40.00 %, and 81.73 %, respectively, indicating that agricultural wastes could potentially treat wastewater. However, further improvements are required to obtain safe water for human consumption as the treated water had yet to achieve potable standards, and its COD value increased by 247.06 %. The methods for improvement include optimising filter media depth and proper pre-treatments of biosorbents. It is also recommended to study the biosorption mechanism, kinetics, and reusability of the biosorbents to develop an economically feasible and environmentally sustainable water purification system. 2023 Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis NonPeerReviewed application/pdf http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5578/1/1802883_FYP_Report.pdf Kee, Kelvin Ming Ern (2023) Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use. Final Year Project, UTAR. http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5578/
institution Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
building UTAR Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
content_source UTAR Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.utar.edu.my
topic TP Chemical technology
spellingShingle TP Chemical technology
Kee, Kelvin Ming Ern
Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use
description Access to clean water is a major challenge, especially for developing countries facing water-related emergencies. Therefore, this study aims to propose a lowcost, portable water purification system that utilises agricultural waste as filter media. The filter media used were corn cobs, modified activated carbon (AC) and fruit peels (orange, dragon fruit, and banana peels) housed in a plastic drawer. This study evaluated the performance of the fruit peels in removing Fe3+ ions at different pH levels and concentrations. Additionally, this study also tested the antibacterial properties of AC coated with silver nanoparticles. Results showed that the best Fe3+ biosorption occurred when the initial concentration of Fe3+ was 25 mg/L at pH 7. The values of the maximum percentage removal of Fe3+ were 94.2879 %, 94.2358 % and 92.4361 % for banana, orange and dragon fruit peels, respectively. Furthermore, the ANOVA analysis results suggested that the type of fruit peels was insignificant as the biosorption capabilities of the proposed fruit peels were comparable under optimum conditions. Hence, orange, dragon fruit and banana peels are good candidates for Fe3+ removal. Besides, the AC coated with silver nanoparticles did inhibit the growth of E.coli, making it an excellent material for contaminant removal and water disinfection. Moreover, the proposed filtration system was able to reduce the Fe3+ concentration, conductivity, and turbidity values of the synthetic polluted water by 98.62 %, 40.00 %, and 81.73 %, respectively, indicating that agricultural wastes could potentially treat wastewater. However, further improvements are required to obtain safe water for human consumption as the treated water had yet to achieve potable standards, and its COD value increased by 247.06 %. The methods for improvement include optimising filter media depth and proper pre-treatments of biosorbents. It is also recommended to study the biosorption mechanism, kinetics, and reusability of the biosorbents to develop an economically feasible and environmentally sustainable water purification system.
format Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
author Kee, Kelvin Ming Ern
author_facet Kee, Kelvin Ming Ern
author_sort Kee, Kelvin Ming Ern
title Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use
title_short Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use
title_full Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use
title_fullStr Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use
title_full_unstemmed Portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use
title_sort portable low-cost water purification system for populations in developing countries and emergency use
publishDate 2023
url http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5578/1/1802883_FYP_Report.pdf
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5578/
_version_ 1770556051196739584
score 13.211869

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