Essential to health and vital for food production, economic growth & environmental protection, water is a precious natural resource - a resource that is continually depleting with its increasing demand. Key reasons that account for the growing demand of water.
Portable Water Treatment refers to compact water purifying units that can be easily transported from one place to another as per convenience. These units/techniques can very easily be connected to outhouses, kitchens, or other residential units. Also called Point Of Use (POU) water treatment systems, these novel water treatment method is extremely popular among recreational enthusiasts, military personnel, survivalists, and others, who often have to consume drinking water from untreated sources. These portable units also prove to be extremely useful in emergency situations like causatums of hurricanes, earthquakes, or other disasters that require urgent rehabilitation of facilities. Portable water treatment units can very efficaciously eliminate chlorine, bad taste, odors or heavy metals like lead and mercury, and make raw water potable.
Techniques Employed in Portable Water Treatment
Some of the most common techniques used in portable water treatment units are discussed below:
Boiling
Among the different methods used to purify and treat water, the method of boiling water is perhaps the most effective way of killing germs. Even most modern filtering systems and technologically advanced methods of water treatment come in a poor distant second to this traditional and almost foolproof method of boiling. Boiling water requires no special equipment or training, and it is the most effective method of destroying microorganisms including disease causing bacteria, viruses, protozoans and parasites.
Boiling actually is the rapid vaporization of the liquid. This is done by increasing the temperature of the liquid above its boiling point i.e the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding environmental pressure. The process of boiling takes place in three specific stages, which are nucleate, transition and film boiling. These stages generally take place from low to high heating surface temperatures respectively.
Filtration
Filtration is another simple technique used in POU water treatment for removing the solid contaminants from raw water. The method employs an interposing medium through which only the water can pass leaving behind the contaminants. There are several methods of filtration used, mainly depending on the location/state of the targeted material in the water. Generally, porous ceramics are more preferred as they can disperse finer bubbles, which means more gas is exposed to the liquid increasing the gas transfer efficiency. Some also utilize activated charcoal filtering. This method of water treatment can very efficiently eliminate most bacteria and protozoa, like Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia, but fails to remove viruses with diameters smaller than 0.3 micrometer, hence disinfection by chemicals or ultraviolet light is recommended after filtration.
Chemical Disinfection
Disinfection is a primary technique designed for destructing and inactivating pathogenic organisms or microbes present in raw water. Disinfection as a sterilizing method minimizes or impedes the spread of waterborne diseases to downstream users and the environment. Disinfection often involves addition of certain chemicals like lime and chlorine or even ozone. Lime when added to water increases its pH value and makes it extremely alkaline. This extreme alkalinity disrupts growth and survival of bacteria in the treated water. This method should however be followed by treatment like recarbonation for lime removal, before the treated water is supplied for drinking or cooking to the general public. Chlorine when used as a disinfectant penetrates the cell walls of bacteria and disrupts the enzymes which are imperative for the metabolic processes of living organisms.
Ultraviolet Purification
UV purification is another method that effectively destroys pathogenic bacteria and viruses by disrupting the biological processes and reproduction. This portable water treatment method is normally preferred by most people as it is relatively simple, produces no known toxic residuals, and requires short contact times. This method is however not suitable for purifying water that has high levels of turbidity, color, suspended solids or soluble organic matter. Solar Water Disinfection or SODIS
Solar water disinfection is a simple, safe, economical and effective method of disinfecting contaminated water. The method simply involves the use of sunlight and plastic PET bottles for purifying or improving the quality of drinking water. In this method, contaminated water is filled in PET bottles or glass bottles (made of heat-conducting material and preferably painted black) and exposed to direct sunlight for varying periods of time, usually for not less than 6 hours. During exposure, the UV-radiation (wavelength 320-400nm) of the sun raises the water temperature, thereby helping in inactivating/killing diarrhoea generating pathogens present in the water.
Solar Distillation
Solar distillation refers to a process of water treatment that employs a pre-manufactured and easily portable still, called a solar still. The process is fully dependent on sunlight which is utilized to warm and evaporate the raw water to be purified. It also consists of a plastic sheet suspended as an inverted cone, on which the water vapor condenses. The water so formed by condensation is allowed to drip in a collecting cup placed beneath its center. Some advanced apparatus consists of an thing tubing connected to the collecting vessel/cup so that it facilitates an automatic removal of the water at regular intervals, without disturbing the inverted cone.
Processing of Drinking Water
Municipal solid waste derived from household, commercial, institutional and industrial establishments contain bulk volumes of organic waste.
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is continually depleting with its increasing demand. Key reasons that account for the growing demand of water.
units/techniques can very easily be connected to outhouses, kitchens, or other residential units. Also called Point Of Use (POU) water treatment systems, these novel water treatment method is extremely popular among recreational enthusiasts, military personnel, survivalists, and others, who often have to consume drinking water from untreated sources. These portable units also prove to be extremely useful in emergency situations like causatums of hurricanes, earthquakes, or other disasters that require urgent rehabilitation of facilities. Portable water treatment units can very efficaciously eliminate chlorine, bad taste, odors or heavy metals like lead and mercury, and make raw water potable. 
