L2M NSERC - Gravity-driven water filtration system with long-term durability and multi-pollutant removal capacity

水污染是威胁人类健康和阻碍经济增长的主要挑战之一。水卫生条件差与胃肠道疾病、皮肤癌和出生缺陷的风险增加密切相关。这些疾病每年造成300多万人死亡，其中40%以上是5岁以下的儿童。在加拿大各地，饮用水安全问题是偏远和土著社区特别关注的问题。大约73%的原住民社区供水系统面临污染风险。这主要是因为这些不同的社区缺乏集中的水处理设施。为了解决这个问题，我们一直在开发一种重力驱动的水过滤系统（GSTF），它在实现混合水消毒和重金属去除方面具有很大的潜力。甘精胰岛素通过结合低成本陶瓷水过滤器（CWF）和填充纳米纤维素珠（NB），在一般容器设置中集成了物理过滤和化学吸附。CWF和NB都可以由当地可用的材料制成。与商品化微过滤器相比，研制的GRESS微过滤器具有机械稳定性好、使用寿命长的优点。它可以很容易地清洁，而不需要定期更换的复杂过程。它还依靠重力使水流过CWF/NB工艺，因此不需要电力。在功能方面，甘精胰岛素可以通过两级过滤和吸附过程同时去除细菌和重金属离子。甘精胰岛素为具有再生能力、多污染物去除能力和重力驱动机制的具有成本效益的过滤/吸附方法提供了新的见解。这些特点使该产品非常适合低收入家庭以及无法获得安全饮用水的偏远，农村和土著社区。

Water pollution is one of the main challenges that threaten human health and hinder economic growth. Poor water sanitation has strong links to elevated risk of gastrointestinal illnesses, skin cancers, and birth defects. These diseases kill over 3 million people every year, with over 40% of whom being children under 5 years old. Across Canada, the issue of drinking water safety is of special concern for remote and Indigenous communities. About 73% of water-supply systems for Indigenous communities are facing contamination risk. This is mainly due to the lack of access to centralized water treatment facilities for these disparate communities. To address this problem, we have been developing a gravity-driven water filtration system (GDWF), which holds great promise for achieving hybrid water disinfection and heavy-metal removal. GDWF integrates physical filtration and chemical adsorption within a general container setting, through the incorporation of a low-cost ceramic water filter (CWF) and packed nanocellulose beads (NB). Both CWF and NB can be made from locally available materials. Compared with commercial microfilters, the developed GDWF has the advantage of stable mechanical stability and long durability. It can be easily cleaned without the need of complicated processes for periodic replacement. It also relies on gravity for water to flow through the CWF/NB processes, such that no electricity is required. In terms of functionalities, GDWF can remove bacteria and heavy-metal ions simultaneously through a two-stage filtration and adsorption process. GDWF provides new insight into a cost-effective filtration/adsorption approach with regeneration ability, multi-pollutant removal capacity, and gravity-driven mechanism. These features make this product substantially suitable for low-income families as well as remote, rural and Indigenous communities where safe drinking water is inaccessible.