Engineering of a Multi-Layered 3D-Printed Filtration System Integrated with Natural Coagulants and Bio-adsorbents for Potable Water Access

Grade:

11

Teacher:

Alfred Santos

Access to clean water remains a global crisis, as around 2 billion people currently lack safe drinking water. This leads to people having to consume water contaminated with deadly pathogens, leading to around 1.7 million annual deaths. To address this problem, this research consisted of developing a cost effective, 3D-printed bio-filter using natural coagulants that will be able to filter bacteria and other contaminants from dirty water. The methods include utilizing a multi-layered filtration assembly designed in Fusion 360 and produced via 3D printing. The filtration media consisted of moringa seed powder ground into biodegradable tea bags and pebbles. These pebbles were coated in a chitosan-acetic acid solution and stabilized using sodium tripolyphosphate before being oven dried. The 3D structure featured three compartments for these media, each with central flow holes, and a final collection chamber at the base equipped with a discharge outlet to facilitate sequential purification. The results show that the 3D-printed bio-filter is incredibly effective, successfully clearing out nearly all the methylene blue. Across our test samples, the filtration results were highly significant, with a p-value under 0.05. Both versions of the filter performed exceptionally well, removing almost all contaminants even at higher concentrations. These findings suggest that combining moringa and chitosan in a 3D-printed design offers a promising way to create potable water.

Project presentation

Research paper