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Ultrafiltration to Supply Drinking Water in International Development: A Review of Opportunities

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Appropriate Technologies for Environmental Protection in the Developing World

Abstract

One of humanities biggest problems at present are millions of preventable deaths in developing countries. Most of those deaths are caused by microorganisms, often from sewage contaminated drinking water. Hence, technology to remove such contaminants is a first step to solving the problem. One such technology is ultrafiltration (UF). UF is a membrane filtration process in which water is pushed through a physical filter with a transmembrane pressure supplied by a pump or gravity. The pore size of such membranes is such that bacteria and most viruses can be effectively retained. As a consequence, this process has the ability to disinfect water physically and hence prevent water related disease and death from microorganisms. In this paper the performance of existing UF membranes and systems will be reviewed in terms of pathogen removal, water productivity (system capacity and flux), specific energy consumption per volume of water produced, which affect cost. Specific needs of systems to be installed and operated in developing countries as well as opportunities for the global community will be outlined.

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Acknowledgments

The contributions of many colleagues and companies to the queries looking for small scale UF systems are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering and Electronics, The University of Edinburgh, William Rankine Building, The King’s Buildings, EH9 3JL, Edinburgh, UK

    J. Davey & A. I. Schäfer

Authors
  1. J. Davey
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  2. A. I. Schäfer
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Correspondence to A. I. Schäfer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Western Ontario, Canada

    Ernest K. Yanful

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Davey, J., Schäfer, A.I. (2009). Ultrafiltration to Supply Drinking Water in International Development: A Review of Opportunities. In: Yanful, E.K. (eds) Appropriate Technologies for Environmental Protection in the Developing World. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9139-1_16

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