The Sono arsenic filter was invented in 2006 by
Abul Hussam, who is a chemistry professor at
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
(GMU) in
Fairfax
Fairfax may refer to:
Places United States
* Fairfax, California
* Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California
* Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue
* Fairfax, Georgia
* Fairfax, Indiana
* Fa ...
,
Virginia. It was developed to deal with the problem of
arsenic contamination of groundwater.
The
filter is now in use in Hussam's native
Bangladesh.
Development
Farmers had been drinking fresh
groundwater from wells, whereas previously they had had to use ponds and mudholes which were contaminated with bacteria and viruses. However, these wells were also contaminated with naturally occurring high concentrations of poisonous
arsenic, causing skin ailments and cancers. Awareness of the problem developed through the 1990s.
Allan Smith, an
epidemiologist at the
University of California at Berkeley, observed that the arsenic problem affects millions of people worldwide:
Hussam developed his filter after years of testing hundreds of prototypes. The final version contains 20 pounds of shards of porous
iron, which bonds chemically with arsenic. It also includes charcoal, sand and bits of brick. It filters nearly all arsenic from well water.
Awards
Hussam was awarded the 2007
Grainger challenge Prize for
Sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
by the
National Academy of Engineering.
[ National Academiesbr>Press Release]
accessed 5 Feb 2007. Hussam plans to use 70% of the $1 million engineering prize to distribute filters to needy communities.
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206142405/http://www.enn.com/sci.html?id=833 , date=2007-02-06 , Associated Press, 2/3/07.
See also
* Backwashing
* Bangladesh
* Carbon filtering
* Distillation
* Filtration
Filtration is a physical separation process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture using a ''filter medium'' that has a complex structure through which only the fluid can pass. Solid particles that cannot pass through the filter ...
* Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane to separate ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pre ...
* Sand separator
A sand separator is a device that separates sand or other solids from water.
One version of sand separator utilizes centrifugal force to separate sand or other heavy particles out of the water. The separated material drops down into a tank or re ...
* Settling basin
* Water purification
References
External links
DWC-Water: Arsenic filtration
- description and test results.
- development and distribution.
Bangladeshi inventions
Water filters
Arsenic
Water pollution