Properties and Optimisation of Selected Operational Factors on the Performance of Household Water Treatment Techniques

Abstract

Household Water Treatment Techniques (HWTT) play a crucial role in improving drinking water quality, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries where centralized water treatment infrastructure may be inadequate or unavailable. These HWTT are fibre filtration, chlorination, solar disinfection, ceramic filtration, bio-sand filtration, coagulation-flocculation, membrane filtration, and ultraviolet (UV) treatment technologies. The effectiveness of household water treatment techniques is influenced by several operational factors that determine contaminant removal efficiency, treatment capacity, user acceptability, and system longevity. This study evaluates the properties and optimisation of key operational factors such as influent turbidity, number of filters, treatment time, and coagulant dose on the performance of filtration units. Raw surface water samples were collected from Opa River and subjected to filtration treatment using three filter media (ceramic, fibre, and activated carbon filters) and L₉ 4³ Taguchi technique. Performance evaluations (individual and overall) and optimisation were conducted on the selected factors. The study revealed that the overall performance averages were 88.24 %, 88.27% and 89.15%, with a range of between 78.67 and 93.86 %, 78.77 and 93.81 %, and 77.73 and 92.52 %    for ceramic, fibre, and activated carbon filters, respectively. The optimum values of these selected factors (influent turbidity, number of filters, treatment time, and coagulant dose) were 1080 NTU, 2, 12.8 minutes and 135 mg/l. It was concluded that understanding these selected factors is essential for optimizing treatment performance, improving public health outcomes, and enhancing the sustainability of household water treatment interventions.