Tecnologias Saneamiento

Biological Decontamination

Contaminants that compromise the safety of drinking water are both biological and chemical and different strategies
are requiredfor their neutralization or removal. Strategies for removing biological contaminants include filtration
with ceramic filters, chemical treatment (e.g. with chlorine or iodine), andexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

UV radiation is the surest method for biological decontamination, though until recent years it has been too delicate,expensive, complicated and resource intensive for use at the household or community scale in developing societies.
Recently however, researchers and engineers have pioneered the developmentof simple, inexpensive and robust UV
systems. AqueousSolutions has partnered with the US- and Vietnam-based MEDRIX, Inc. (Medical, Educational
and Development of Resourcesthrough International eXchange), a non-profit company that has developed and
deployed robust and inexpensive point-of-use germicidal UV units in a number of Southeast Asian communitiesto
receive the materials and training for implementation of this aspect of the treatment system. We refer the reader to
their website (www.medrix.org) for detailedinformation regarding the germicidal UV units.

Chemical Decontamination

Biological contamination of drinking water is only part of the problem,especially when considering pesticides and
other agricultural runoff. Filtration with ceramics, chemical treatment and UV radiation will not remove pesticides
from drinking water.Charcoal (graphite carbon) is an inexpensive material that has been manufactured worldwide for millennia, and
because of its electrochemical surface properties has...