Ultrafiltration as an alternative membrane technology to obtain safe drinking water from surface water: 10 years of experience on the scope of the AQUAPOT project

Access to a sufficient quantity of water of adequate quality for human consumption is a global problem. Nowadays, among the 1 billion people estimated to lack access to improved water sources and sanitation worldwide, rural populations are disproportionately underserved. As a consequence, sustainable access to safe drinking water remains as an international target to be achieved before 2015, reflected in the Millennium Development Goals Declaration. Membrane’s technology and specifically Ultrafiltration (UF) represents an effective alternative to obtain safe drinking water, due to its ability to remove microbiological contamination from surface water. Since 1996, AQUAPOT international project, developed in the Polytechnic University of Valencia works with the aim to design a fully autonomous UF-water system characterized by its modularity, low-cost, easy automation and simple maintenance. The present paper describes main work developed inside AQUAPOT project in the last 10 years and the most relevant results obtained as a consequence of the application of this innovative technology in developing countries.

Experience with UF technology after 10 years of basic and applied research and technical assistances in rural areas of Ecuador and Mozambique, allows to conclude: – Analytical results obtained from UF-facilities installed on the scope of the AQUAPOT project were satisfactory and prove the suitability of UF technology in drinking water treatment from surface water. – Membranes showed a complete rejection of total coliforms and thermotolerants coliforms and guarantee continuous drinking water supply. – Technical assistances done in rural areas of Ecuador and Mozambique have shown that good control and periodic analytical supervision of drinking water facilities is compulsory to assure the supply of drinking water in proper quality for human consumption. Finally, it can be said that this kind of installations are a very reliable and sustainable way of meeting the drinking water needs of small communities in developing countries. Even current political climate about membranes is that they are an unaffordable technology for developing countries and often cannot be maintained in remote contexts, AQUAPOT has shown after 3 years of proper working that UF-facilities can be feasible option to obtain safe water through decentralized systems in rural areas. New technologies as UF represent a reliable alternative to consider for drinking water treatment. They have to be taken in account by local governments because its modularity and adaptability to contaminant make them a suitable technology to reduce mortality and waterborne diseases related to intake of contaminated water, in a short and medium term.