The Use of Ceramic Water Filters in Improving the Microbial Quality of Drinking Water

Abstract

Water borne infections are the number killer of children under five years in developing countries. The main reason is the consumption of untreated drinking water. Here we report on the use of ceramic water filters in reducing Escherichia coli, a surrogate for pathogens in drinking water and can be applied in a rural household. For microbiological analysis, the two ceramic water filters, one from Mukondeni and the other one from Sese in Zimbabwe reduced the high microbial load of the raw water. The result showed that the counts as colony form units, of coliform in the purified water was zero and in raw water was too many to count; these colonies were probably removed by the ceramic water filter. The microbial counts in the purified water were zero colony forming units per 100 ml and within the SANS 241 guidelines values. The ceramic water filters from Mukondeni and Sese were able to improve the microbial quality of the raw water. The Sese ceramic water filter was slow and thus further improvements are required in the composition of materials by increasing the saw dust component and reducing the clay component. Thus, ceramic water filters are suitable for use at household level.