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Biological Sand Filters: Low‐Cost Bioremediation Technique for Production of Clean Drinking Water
Publication Name:
Current Protocols in Microbiology
Unit Number:
Unit 1G.1
DOI:
10.1002/9780471729259.mc01g01s9
Online Posting Date:
May, 2008 Abstract
Approximately 1.1 billion people in rural and peri-urban communities of developing countries do not have access to safe drinking water. The mortality from diarrheal-related diseases amounts to ~2.2 million people each year from the consumption of unsafe water. Most of them are children under 5 years of age—250 deaths an hour from microbiologically contaminated water. There is conclusive evidence that one low-cost household bioremediation intervention, biological sand filters, are capable of dramatically improving the microbiological quality of drinking water. This unit will describe this relatively new and proven bioremediation technology's ability to empower at-risk populations to use naturally occurring biology and readily available materials as a sustainable way to achieve the health benefits of safe drinking water. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 9:1G.1.1-1G.1.28. © 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Keywords: biofiltration; bioremediation; biosand filter; water treatment; microbiological contamination; water quality; developing countries
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Strategic Planning
- Reading Source Water Turbidity
- Basic Protocol 1: Quantitative Estimate of Turbidity
- Support Protocol: Building a Simple Turbidity Gauge
- Options for Pretreating Source Water
- Basic Protocol 2: Alleviating High Turbidity
- Basic Protocol 3: Adapting the Biosand Filter for Arsenic Removal
- Constructing the Sand Biofilter
- Basic Protocol 4: Preparing Media for Use in a Biosand Filter
- Basic Protocol 5: Installing the Media
- Basic Protocol 6: Operating the Biosand Filter
- Maintaining the Sand Biofilter
- Basic Protocol 7: Periodic Disinfection (Cleaning) of Filter Container
- Basic Protocol 8: Recovering the Flow Rate
- Disinfecting Effluent Water
- Basic Protocol 9: Bleach (Free Chlorine) Disinfection of Effluent Water
- Basic Protocol 10: Solar Disinfection (SODIS) of Effluent Water
- Commentary
- Literature Cited
- Figures
- Tables
Materials
Basic Protocol 1: Quantitative Estimate of Turbidity
Materials
- Turbidity gauge (see
- Additional reagents and equipment for turbidity treatment (Basic Protocols
Support Protocol: Building a Simple Turbidity Gauge
Materials
- 1-in (2.5 cm) diameter PVC end cap
- Waterproof marking pen
- Glass or clear plastic tubing, 1-in (2.5 cm) diameter, 28-in. (70 cm) length
- PVC cement (glue)
- Measuring tape
Basic Protocol 2: Alleviating High Turbidity
Materials
- Collected water
- Filter container
- Sari cloth or other fabrics
Basic Protocol 3: Adapting the Biosand Filter for Arsenic Removal
Materials
- Water (from the best source possible)
- 11 lb (5 kg) of nongalvanized iron nails, length <¾ in. (20 mm)
- Filter containing diffuser box (see
- Small broken brick chips or stones, 2- to 4-in. (5 to 10 cm) diameter
Basic Protocol 4: Preparing Media for Use in a Biosand Filter
Materials
- Mixed sand and gravel
- Water (from the best source possible)
- Materials for building three wooden sieves including:
- 1-in. × 4-in. (2.5 cm × 10.00 cm) lumber to construct three sieves, three 8 foot (2.4 m) lengths
- 1-in. × 1-in. (2.5 cm × 2.5 cm) wood strapping, three 8 foot (2.4 m) lengths
- ½-in. (12 mm) screen, ¼-in. (6 mm) screen, and 1/16-in. (~1.5 mm) mosquito screen, screens must be metal, not nylon or fiberglass
- Tape measure
- Hammer
- Nails
- Saw
- Shovels
- Tarp
- 5-gallon (20 liter) buckets
Basic Protocol 5: Installing the Media
Materials
- Water
- Household chlorine bleach solution (see
- Filter (see
- Materials for correct media installation including:
- 2 in. (5 cm), 3 quarts (~3 liters) of washed ½-in. (12 mm) gravel
- 2 in. (5 cm), 3 quarts (~3 liters) of washed ¼-in. (6 mm) gravel
- 20 in. (50 cm), 25 quarts (~25 liters) of washed fine sand
- Stick, 40 in. (100 cm) long
- Measuring tape
- Black magic marker pen
- Diffuser plate or box (see
- Materials for testing filter flow rate including:
- Measured container (1 liter pop bottle is adequate)
- Stop watch
- Materials to disinfect the standpipe including:
- 3-foot (1 meter) garden hose
- Hose clamps
- Funnel
- Bleach-soaked cloth
Basic Protocol 6: Operating the Biosand Filter
Materials
- Raw (untreated) water
- Biosand filter including a diffuser plate (see
- Buckets
Basic Protocol 8: Recovering the Flow Rate
Materials
- Soap
- Water
- BioSand filter with a diffuser plate (see
Basic Protocol 9: Bleach (Free Chlorine) Disinfection of Effluent Water
Materials
- Household bleach
- Clean water
- Clean empty container
Basic Protocol 10: Solar Disinfection (SODIS) of Effluent Water
Materials
- Biosand filtered water
- 1- to 2-liter clear bottles (e.g., soda bottles)
Looking for materials? Suppliers Guide
Figures
-
Figure 1G.1.1Schematic diagrams of three common filters. (A) CAWST's concrete (BioSand) filter—high rates of user acceptance (over 300,000 filters worldwide). (B) BushProof's Concrete (BioSand) Filter—round shape provides additional strength and requires less materials. (C) Barrel Filter—locally built biosand filters made from plastic barrels or metal drums. -
Figure 1G.1.2Illustration featuring an indigenous biofilter constructed of clay jars. -
Figure 1G.1.3Illustration highlighting major principles and generic size dimensions. -
Figure 1G.1.4Diagram of a home-brew turbidity gauge. -
Figure 1G.1.5Arsenic filter—a simple adaptation for removing both pathogens and arsenic based on biosand remediation and iron hydroxide adsorption principles. -
Figure 1G.1.6Diagram of constructed wooden sieve. -
Figure 1G.1.7Steps needed to sieve the three different grades of media. -
Figure 1G.1.8International Aid's plastic HydraAid (BioSand) filter—lighter weight, stores and filters up to 47 liters (15 gallons) per hour. -
Figure 1G.1.9Schematic diagram of the JAL filter. No standpipe and only one layer of sand required; lightweight and inexpensive to build.
Literature Cited
| Literature Cited | |
| Bruzunis, B.J. 1995. Intermittently Operated Sand Filtration: A New Water Treatment Process. Master of Engineering Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. | |
| Catherman, R. 2006. Using Ultraviolet to Disinfect Household Drinking Water. MEDRIX, Woodinvale, Wash. | |
| Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. 2008. Biosand Filter Manual: Design, Construction, and Installation. CAWST. Calgary, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Conant, J. 2005. Water for Life: Community Water Security. Hesperian Foundation, Berkeley, Calif. Available from: http://www.energyandenvironment.undp.org/undp/index.cfm module=Library&page=Document&DocumentID=5637. | |
| EAWAG and SANDEC, undated. SODIS Technical Note No. 7, Duebendorf, Switzerland. | |
| Ellms, J.W. 1928. Water Purification, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, New York. | |
| Fisher, M.B., Keenan, C.R., Nelson, K.L., and Voelker, B.M. 2008. Speeding up solar disinfection (SODIS): Effects of hydrogen peroxide, temperature, pH, and copper plus ascorbate on the photoinactivation of E. coli. J. Water Health 6: 35-51 IWA Publishing 2008 doi:10.2166/wh.2007.005. Available from: http://www.iwaponline.com/jwh/006/jwh0060035.htm. | |
| Muhammad, N., Ellis, K., Parr, J., and Smith, M.D. 1996. Optimization of slow sand filtration. Reaching the unreached: Challenges for the 21st century. 22nd WEDC Conference, pp. 283-285. | |
| National Small Flows Clearinghouse. 1997. Pipeline: Sand Filters Provide Quality, Low-Maintenance Treatment. 8: 1-7. | |
| Ngai, T., Dangol, B., Murcott, S., and Shrestha, R.R. 2006. Kanchan Arsenic Filter. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO). Kathmandu, Nepal. | |
| Nath, K.J., Bloomfield, S.F., Jones, M. 2006. Household water storage, handling and point-of-use treatment. A review commissioned by IFH; published on http://www.ifh-homehygiene.org. | |
| Rau, R. 2003. Complex simplicity: A slow sand filter for drinking water. Home Power 93: 52-56. | |
| Smethurst, G. 1992. Basic Water Treatment: For Application World-Wide. Thomas Telford, London. | |
| Sobsey, M.D. 2002. Managing water in the home: Accelerated health gains from improved water supply. WHO/SDE/WSH02.07. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Available from: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/en/WSH02.07.pdf. | |
| World Health Organization. 2003. Emerging Issues in Water and Infectious Disease. WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. | |
| World Health Organization. 2007. Combating Waterborne Disease at the Household Level. WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. | |
| Key References | |
| Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. 2008a. Source of Square Concrete Biosand Filter Construction Manuals. CAWST. Calgary, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Provides the most comprehensive concrete filter construction materials. | |
| Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. 2008b. Source of “Summary of Field and Laboratory Testing for the Biosand Filter. CAWST. Calgary, Ontario, Canada. | |
| Provides the most comprehensive summary of research results. Available from http://www.cawst.org/assets/File/BSF_Literature_Brief.pdf | |
| Internet Resources | |
| http://www.who.int/household_water/network/en/ | |
| The International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage. | |
| http://manzwaterinfo.ca/ | |
| Dr. David Manz's internet-based cooperative discourse for the Biosand Water Filter. | |
| http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2005/en/index.html | |
| Link to the report Water for life: Making it happen. This report, prepared by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program, makes it clear that achieving the International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015 target of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation will bring health and dignity to millions of the world's poorest people. | |
| http://www.medrix.org/water.html#UVWaterTreatment | |
| Medical Education and Development of Resources through International Exchange (MEDRIX)—provides a UV lamp water treatment (with optional sand filter) system handbook available upon request. | |
| http://www.biosandfilter.org | |
| A very useful Website, which contains detailed technical information (guidelines) on how to build the metal mould, how to produce the round concrete, and provides description and drawings for plastic or metal drum biosand filter construction. | |
| http://web.mit.edu/watsan/worldbank_summary.htm | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Kanchan Arsenic Filter (KAF). Project promotes KAF technology. | |
| http://www.hydraid.org/ | |
| International Aid's new plastic HydrAid BioSand Water Filter initiative. | |
| http://www.jalmandir.com/filtration/biosand/biosand-filters.html | |
| Clearinghouse for Low-cost Household Water Treatment Technologies—provides overview of biosand filtration technology. | |
| http://www.jalfilter.org | |
| Provides description, photographs, and schematics drawings for JAL filter construction. | |
| http://www.safewaterintl.org/ | |
| Safe Water International's development initiative toward a lightweight collapsible filter container and safe storage pouch combination. | |
| http://www.cawst.org | |
| The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) is a Canadian humanitarian organization that provides training, education, and technical consulting in water and sanitation to organizations working with the poor in developing countries. | |
| http://www.biosandfilter.org/biosandfilter/index.php/item/229 | |
| BushProof, Biosand Filter home page. (n.d.). Source of Round Concrete and Metal Drum Biosand Filter Construction Manuals. Retrieved March 15, 2007. Presents the most comprehensive online reference material. | |
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A. Hark writes: "looking for information on the manufacturing cost of a plastic biosand filter"
Dear A. Hark, the following MIT website (see below) has numerous documents describing the implementation and monitoring of the Kanchan Arsenic Filter which minus the nails is basically a biosand filter. Visit Kanchan Arsenic Filter Project for Rural Nepal at: [ http://tinyurl.com/y2jsynl ]. Look partiularly at the document entitled KAF Implementation and Enhancement 2006 by Frey et al, this report describes in detail the on-the-ground costs of a smaller version BSF implementation within a Nepal context. Of coarse you'll need to subtract the cost of nails and a few other items that might not be pertinant to your particular situation. Another resource would be the full-size plastic HydrAid biosand filter. The HydrAid organization has an active school program, see HydrAid at: [ http://www.hydraid.org/ ]. One final resource is the following short (1 minute) YouTube video [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaOOmaGzx0g ] that simplifies and animates basic BSF concepts. I bring this to your attention mainly to highlight that all you need is a container, in this case a 55 gallon drum, some PVC pipe and sand to construct a biosand filter. Please note that manufacturing expense is locale dependent. Let's keep in touch as I would be interested in learning more about your school project. CHEERS!
I am looking for information on the manufacturing cost of a plastic biosand filter? I am designing one for my school project and need as much information as I can get to possibl actuate this idea. ANY information would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for your time
I am involve in a program that is intended to install 600 sandfilters in the merendon mountain in honduras, now i need to obtain a report prepared by a researcher from the university of north Carolina at the West Department of this countre las year, by the time she should publised the article I lost contact with the personnel working for international AID, could some one provide some clues to obtain the report. I need in a hurry to obtain information about the impact that using those filters had in reducing stomach deseases in Honduras.
Thanks
The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) has updated the concrete biosand filter design. The new version 10 design changes [PDF] are based on recent research [PDF]. Additional questions can be answered with the following FAQ [webpage]. How to implement the new design change is covered with CAWST's technical bulletin [PDF] and the new Biosand Filter Manual [PDF].
2008 research from University of North Carolina suggests that microbial reductions could be increased by maximizing retention time with the following: "(1) introducing a daily charge volume that is smaller than the filter bed pore volume; (2) designing a filter in which the reservoir volume is less than the pore volume; (3) constructing a flow rate control device that would reduce the flow rate; (4) using a smaller medium to increase head loss; and/or (5) encouraging users to allow a longer time interval between the introduction of each charge of water." Source: Elliott, M.A.; Stauber, C.E.; Koksal, F.; DiGiano, F.A.; Sobsey, M.D. (2008). Reductions of E. coli, echovirus type 12 and bacteriophages in an intermittently operated household-scale slow sand filter. Water Research Vol 42 (10-11) pp.2662 – 2670. Full text PDF download available from University of North Carolina.
Pause Time on Water Quality: 2009 University of North Carolina research has found that water quality improves with longer water residence time in biological filters. Source: Jenkins, M.W.; Tiwari, S.K.; Darby, J.; Nyakash, D.; Saenyi, W.; Langenbach, K. (2009). The BioSand Filter for Improved Drinking Water Quality in High Risk Communities in the Njoro Watershed, Kenya. Research Brief 09-06-SUMAWA, Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program. University of California, Davis, USA. Full text PDF download available from Clearinghouse: low-cost water technologies for developing countries.
Dear Daudi, assuming "quarry dust" is in reference to manufactured sand and gravel from a quarry. Crushed quarry rock is the best filter media versus river sand. While in India I utilized crushed rock from a local quarry for the following two reasons: less pathogen contamination and greater mixture of grain sizes. Generally, quarry material is more expensive, however it's worth the added cost for providing superior water quality and worth every effort to locate. Of special note, quarry material contains large amounts of "dust" that has to be removed. Daudi, alternatively are you suggesting using this dust as construction material for building the concrete container? Regards, Michael
Hello Anonymous, please provide further specific details regarding your water treatment requirements. Presently, I'm assuming that you are searching for a first-flush apparatus – is this correct? Regards, Michael
I am trying to get some sort of low cost household water treatment for my area. I need help on technologies that can be applied to rooftop water storage tanks to clean water at the first stage only.
Am interested in researching on quarry dust-made concrete biosand filter for my area. I need some help on how to go about it. I study water and environmental engineering in a Kenyan university.
Is it time we think of using quarry dust for manufacture of concrete biosand filters? It will be cheaper than the normally sand-made one.
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