Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Manufacturing Facility for Activated Carbon and Ceramic Water Filters at the Songhai Center, Benin
EPA Grant Number: SU832495Title: Manufacturing Facility for Activated Carbon and Ceramic Water Filters at the Songhai Center, Benin
Investigators: Striebig, Bradley A. , Dacquisto, John F. , Appel, Philip , Garrity, Dan , Gieber, Terry , Jeannot, Mary , Norwood, Susan , Luu, Annie , Shenoy, Sushil , Elder, Andrew , Remick, Kim , Reyes, Raymond , Smieja, Joanne , Vernon, Amanda , Dial, Jacob , Johnson, Blake , Lemkau, Ben , Shamrell, James , Spuler, Philip , Stanek, Krystal , Stippel, Joe , Young, Julia , Atwood, Samuel , Prochnow, Lisa
Institution: Gonzaga University
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: September 1, 2005 through May 30, 2006
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2005) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
The people in rural Benin lack access to clean water. As a result, they live in an environment that fosters many waterborne diseases, such as E. coli and dysentery. These diseases decrease the longevity and quality of life for the Beninese people. The United Nations recognizes that safe drinking water is the first step toward a brighter future for the people of Benin. Gonzaga University (GU) students are working with the Songhai Center (SC), Potters for Peace (PFP) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA) to improve access to clean water in Benin. The goal of the Gonzaga P3 project was to design a manufacturing facility for an affordable, sustainable water filtration system that can be easily distributed throughout Benin.
Student design teams were given three main tasks. First, select an appropriate drinking water treatment technology that can be manufactured from locally available materials. Secondly, design a sustainable process to manufacture the filters. Third, test the effectiveness of the treatment process for removing drinking water contaminants found in Benin.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The filtration system will be based upon the Filtrón, a ceramic filter design developed by Potters For Peace. The Filtrón design was modified to include activated carbon as part of the treatment process. The activated carbon helped to remove non-microbial pollutants that pass through the Filtrón. Both the production of Filtróns and activated carbon require heat from a kiln or furnace. A furnace was designed and tested, which will be capable of utilizing biogas or a solid biofuel as a renewable energy source.
The water at the Songhai Center in Benin was tested and was compromised by the lack of sanitation and water treatment due to the high poverty level in the country. A ceramic filter (Filtrón) effectively removed biological contaminants from drinking water (See Figure 1). The activated carbon was manufactured from coconut shell wastes, by-products of agricultural production at the Songhai Center. Activated carbon further increased the effectiveness of the filter, particularly in removing phosphates, nitrates and lead, which are common inorganic contaminants (see Table 1). These ceramic filters can be economically manufactured at the Songhai Center in Porto-Novo, Benin, for cost-effective drinking water treatment. Community-focused projects, such as this one, directly address the United Nations' (UN) goal to halve the number of people without access to clean water or sanitation by 2015. The effectiveness, low cost and ease of use make these technologies fully sustainable and ideal for point of use treatment of drinking water in Benin and developing countries.
Figure 1: Samples showing the difference between filtered and unfiltered water
Contaminant | Units | Synthetic water | Filtered water | Average Removal |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fecal Coliforms | MPN/100 ml | 2575 ± 1300 | < 2 ± 0 | >99.92% |
Total Coliforms | MPN/100 ml | 6233 ± 5967 | < 2 ± 0 | >99.97% |
E. Coli | MPN/100 ml | 200 ± 0 | < 2 ± 0 | 99.0% |
Pathgens (H2S producting bacteria) | MPN/100 ml | 637 ± 169 | < 2 ± 0 | 99.7% |
Streptococci | MPN/100 ml | < 20 ± 0 | < 2 ± 0 | NA |
Amoeba* | MPN/100 ml | > 7,000,000 | 37,000 ± 115,000 | 99.5% |
Lead | µg/L Pb | 5 ± 2 | 1 ± 1 | 73% |
Nitrate | mg/L NO3--N | 18.3 ± 1.0 | 11.9 ± 1.5 | 35.1% |
COD | mg/L | 72 ± 17 | 25 ± 11 | 66* |
* Additional data collection in progress at the time of the report |
Conclusions:
In Phase I of the project, a process to manufacture sustainable drinking water filters was demonstrated. Water from Benin that is filtered with the proposed technology will meet WHO criteria for drinking water. A strategy to implement the technology has been identified with our project partners.
The water filters will improve water quality for an estimated cost of $1.86 to $5.61 U.S. dollars per family. Previous studies have indicated exposure to pathogens for high school students in Benin would decrease by 6 to 9 orders of magnitude every day if they are provided adequate water and sanitation. By providing the tools for the people of Benin to initiate and implement their own sustainable methods for survival and disease eradication, the project partners expect the people will embrace the proposed technology. Furthermore, this technology is transferable to neighboring Togo, Nigeria, and other developing nations with similar agricultural production. The successful demonstration of the manufacturing process would not have been possible without a multidisciplinary approach involving chemists, civil engineers, mechanical engineers and many faculty advisors who donated significant amounts of time to Phase I of the project. This multidisciplinary approach has been broadened even further in Phase II to successfully implement and market the technology in Benin.
The educational outcomes demonstrated by this project were exceptional. Junior and senior GU engineering students reported they were encouraged to consider sustainability issues in design and problems associated with water and sanitation in the developing world. Professional engineers reported that the project successfully demonstrated the importance of sustainability in design and greatly increased the value of students’ education. P3 project team members articulated a much deeper understanding of the difficulties of designing sustainable solutions to promote people, prosperity and the planet. These students came to fully appreciate the impact their talents and education have had on people around the world. That realization has impacted the students’ career choices, which include graduate research and work with NGOs in developing countries. For example, two students that worked on this project will be volunteering their time with international development organizations (Peace Corps and Engineering Ministries International), and two other students will be pursuing graduate degrees directly related to their work on the P3 project.
The Phase II project will encourage another group of students to consider the importance sustainability plays in project design and implementation. The Phase II project scope will allow full implementation of the Phase I design. The Phase II project will significantly reduce the risk of disease associated with drinking water in Benin.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 6 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Sustainable development, engineering, human health, drinking water, ceramic filter, Filtrón, activated carbon, nitrates, phosphates, lead, coliforms, and pathogens, RFA, Scientific Discipline, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Water, TREATMENT/CONTROL, POLLUTANTS/TOXICS, Health Risk Assessment, Wastewater, Environmental Microbiology, Physical Processes, Drinking Water, Microorganisms, Water Pollution Control, natural waters, pathogens, monitoring, wastewater treatment, ceramic filters, microbiological organisms, waterborne disease, exposure and effects, bacteria, ceramic filter, exposure, environmental chemistry, treatment, microbial risk management, activated carbon, parasites, drinking water treatment, drinking water contaminants, water treatment, other - risk management, drinking water system, adaptive technologyThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.