Researchers push for affordable water treatment innovations
Dec 10, 2023
With our conventional infrastructure, many times you have seen broken pipes and at the joints of the pipes always having leakages, this means some organisms enter through and contaminate the water.
Robina Kulabako (R), Senior Lecturer at the Department of Civil and Environment Engineering with Peter Olupot (C) from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and another . (Photos by Agnes Nantambi)
Agnes Nantambi
Journalist @New Vision
________________________ some of the participants of the disemination at Makerere University.
Researchers at Makerere University want cheaper technologies to be adopted to enhance the treatment of water at the point of use.
This is one of the recommendations of research studies conducted on the development of materials for point-of-use water treatment systems and the development of zeolite-based nanocomposite filters for drinking water treatment.
According to Prof. Moses Musinguzi, the principal of the College of Engineering Design Art and Technology (CEDAT), the research conducted at the college, indicated that treatment of water at the source and not at the point of use leaves, the water unclean for human consumption yet the government is spending a lot of money on water treatment.
“With our conventional infrastructure, many times you have seen broken pipes and at the joints of the pipes always having leakages, this means some organisms enter through and contaminate the water. But if we adopt appropriate technologies and encourage treatment of water at the point of use, we shall be sure of addressing the problem of water-related diseases,” he said.
Speaking during the dissemination of research on the development of Material for point-of-use water treatment systems and the development of zeolite-based nanocomposite filters for drinking water treatment at Makerere University on December 8, 2023, Prof. Musinguzi stressed that water even if treated at source, there is no assurance whether it will not be contaminated by the time it is consumed.
“If you get mechanisms for treating this water before it is drunk, it does offer a better solution than the solution before, because the current solution is that, water is treated a distance away from where it is consumed,” he said.
The research, which he said was funded by Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), is quite important given the so many diseases, especially those coming from heavy metals like cancers and those from pathogens, bacteria, and viruses.
“If we empower the users of the water to do the treatment before using the water, then we are likely to deal with those problems of contamination of water on the way,” he said.
The research which he said was conducted in conjunction with National Water and Sewerage Corporation and other user representatives is intended to be piloted through the private sector.
“We intend to discuss with the government to update the policy on water treatment so that we start scaling it up to the rest of the community.
From the available results, the locally available materials are cheap and give pure water for drinking,” he said.
He observed that with the increasing number of water-borne diseases, like typhoid, and cholera, and other diseases like cancers and stomach diseases, the new study hopes to address the problem through the provision of treatment options at the point of consumption.
“The research is telling us it is possible while using locally available materials to treat water at the point of use and once it is done, we shall seek a policy recommendation to enhance piloting the technology since, we have a lot of materials readily available to the communities to promote treatment at consumption.
The study conducted by the College on the state of underground water indicated that the majority of the water sources have pathogens, an indication that it is not very pure and not safe for drinking,” he said.
Brenda Aciro, the country director of Water for People, applauded the researchers for the research and admitted the fact that water treatment infrastructures are very expensive observing the need to use cheaper technologies.
“Many times, water is collected from the boreholes safely, by the time it is carried in jerrycans a lot happens along the chain and it gets contaminated, this research which is looking at treatment options at the point of use, is going to be helpful for Ugandans as we look for more innovative technologies,” she said.
Peter Olupot, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said as opposed to conventional water treatment, where the water is treated at the point of use.
Dr Robina Kulabako the senior lecturer at the Department of Civil and Environment Engineering said her research on the development of zeolite-based nanocomposite filters for drinking water treatment will address issues of unsafe drinking water stemming from climate change and human activities.
“Looking at the conventional treatment plants some of them lack the processes that can remove some emerging pollutants and contaminants like heavy metals and pesticides.
This research is looking at alternative materials to reduce the contaminants in the drinking water and can be part and partial of the conventional water treatment plants,” she said.
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