New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Water purification: Is colloidal silver necessary for bacteria removal?

Date:
November 7, 2010
Source:
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Summary:
Scientists traveled to Guatemala twice in the past year to conduct research on ceramic pot filters that are used locally to remove bacteria from water. They found that silver may not be necessary to effectively remove bacteria from source water.
Share:
FULL STORY

Nicole Heinley, a graduate student at Missouri University of Science and Technology, traveled to Guatemala twice in the past year to conduct research on ceramic pot filters that are used locally to remove bacteria from water. Now, Heinley's findings are about to be published in the Journal of Water Science and Technology.

Ceramic pot filters, which are made out of sawdust and clay, have been around in poor countries for hundreds of years. The focus of Heinley's research is on the colloidal silver -- or lack of it -- that is typically used to line the filters. The silver mixture is thought to have disinfection properties -- but the actual disinfection mechanism of the silver is poorly understood.

Heinley wanted to find out if the colloidal silver, which is the most expensive part of the filters, is necessary at all. "It's the only material that has to be imported to manufacture the filters," she says. "The remaining materials -- sawdust and clay -- are available locally."

In the journal article, Heinley and Dr. Curt Elmore, associate professor of geological engineering at Missouri S&T, conclude that the silver may not be necessary to effectively remove bacteria from source water. In their study, filters not lined with silver removed a high rate of E. coli.

"Additional, long-term studies of filters without silver should be undertaken in order to further investigate the issue," Heinley says.

Heinley and Elmore traveled to Guatemala with students from a geological engineering class during winter break and spring break earlier this year. Heinley collected contaminated water samples from a little river in the city of Antigua and studied the structure of the ceramic pot filters available locally. Back at Missouri S&T, she continued the research.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Missouri University of Science and Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

Missouri University of Science and Technology. "Water purification: Is colloidal silver necessary for bacteria removal?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100906162326.htm>.
Missouri University of Science and Technology. (2010, November 7). Water purification: Is colloidal silver necessary for bacteria removal?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100906162326.htm
Missouri University of Science and Technology. "Water purification: Is colloidal silver necessary for bacteria removal?." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100906162326.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES