Clean water for developing countries

Abstract

Availability of safe drinking clean water, a pivotal natural resource, is still a remote dream to many around the world, and a lot of cities especially in developing countries. Efforts to develop efficient, economical, and techno- logically sound methods to manufacture clean water for developing countries have increased worldwide. We focus on solar disinfection, filtration, percolation, hybrid and mongrel filtration methods, treatment of harvested and collected rainwater, herbal water disinfection, and arsenic removal technologies. Simple, yet innovative water treatment devices ranging from use of plant xylem as filters, tera filters, and hand pumps to tippy taps and nozzle designed and prepared indigenously and locally are methods mentioned here. By characterizing the technical ways of major water disinfection methods relevant for developing countries on medium to small scales and balances and emphasizing their merits, demerits, economics, and scalability, we highlight the current scenario and smooth the way for further research and explore and development and scaling up of these processes. This survey concentrates on clean drinking water, especially for rustic populations in developing countries.