Optimizing flow rate and bacterial removal performance of ceramic pot filters in Tamale, Ghana

Abstract

Pure Home Water (PHW) is an organization that seeks to improve the drinking water quality for those who do not have access to clean water in Northern Ghana. This study focuses on the further optimization of ceramic pot filters, which is a promising low-cost household water treatment and the main product manufactured by Pure Home Water, by investigating the relationship between manufacturing parameters and filter performance. The manufacturing parameters researched in this thesis includes rice husk size and the mixing process, and the performance variables includes flow rate and bacterial removal. Through this research, the author determined the positive exponential relationship between rice husk size and flow rate, and the negative step-function relationship between rice husk size and bacterial removal, as well as between flow rate and bacterial removal. In addition, pugmill proved to work better in mixing water, rice husk and clay powder since the filters made from the mixture mixed by pugmill had higher total coliform bacterial removal than those mixed by hand. Besides the investigation of the relationship, the author applied the study to full-sized filters, finding that full-sized filters had the same trends as sample ceramic disks and very similar results in bacterial removal with disks when the rice husk size is smaller than 1080 [mu]m.