Ceramic water filter for point-of-use water treatment in Limpopo province, South Africa

This paper describes the design of a ceramic water filter factory in Mashamba Village, Limpopo province, South Africa. In rural settings, water contamination occurs mainly at the point-of-use (POU), or household level and water purification in Limpopo province is still a huge challenge. Locally manufactured ceramic water filters have been proven to significantly improve the microbiological quality of water when used as a POU water-treatment technology. Ceramic water filters have been shown to remove up to 99.9% of pathogens. Students from the University of Venda (Univen) and University of Virginia (UVa) have embarked on a collaboration to implement and construct a socially and financially sustainable ceramic filter factory (CFF) which will manufacture ceramic filters for household-level water treatment. The factory was successfully completed in August 2011 at the site of Mukondeni Cooperative Community Based Pottery Project (CCBPP) in Mashamba Village. This CFF is designed to operate under the leadership of the CCBPP. The factory operations system is low cost efficient and technical knowledge is required. Laboratory testing of filters is targeted to be conducted by Univen and UVa students on a regular basis. Water purification technologies on POU in household is highly context-dependent, and further research on the training and management on production of ceramic filters is essential.