A novel technology for production of drinking water in emergencies

Abstract

Underground water has been used as a suitable drinking water source for a long time. In recent years, however, not a small number of wells have become out of use as a drinking water source owing to pollution with nitrate or nitrite. A mobile water purification system has been developed with advantages in portability and cost to utilize the polluted wells in emergencies. The system has been achieved by the combination of nitrate ion selective adsorbent developed in our group and contactless supporting and shaping technology developed by a company which enables formation of a material into easy-to-handle shapes without decreasing the performance of the functional material. This paper mainly describes the development of the nitrate ion selective adsorbent material, which is the important elemental technology in the mobile water purification system.