Ceramic water filtration is the process that makes use of a porous ceramic (fired clay) medium to filter microbes or other contaminants from water. Ceramic water filtration has been greatly improved upon such that it takes care of most microbial contamination in water. However, the ceramic filter is not known to treat chemical contaminants in water. Therefore this project was aimed at developing a ceramic filter that could treat certain chemical contamination in water at the household level. Porous ceramic bodies were formulated and constituted from various materials such as kaolin, laterite, bonechar and charcoal. Bone char was added as a defluoridation agent while the charcoal doubled as the pore-creating combustible material and as an Activated Carbon media in the ceramic body for the adsorption of metals from water. The formulated ceramic bodies were shaped into filters (pot) using the slip casting technique and fired bisque (850˚C-900˚C). The developed filter samples were subjected to physical properties tests, while analysis on the microbial and physio-chemical parameters of the filter-treated water samples were compared vis-à-vis the raw water samples. The results indicate that the developed filters were effective in the treatment of chemical contaminants detected in the raw water samples; with significant reductions in fluoride, lead, and sulphate levels amongst others. The resulting filter samples also showed viability in physical handling strength and flow rate; while the availability of the raw materials and the processing technique used, makes a good economic case for the production of the developed filters.

Many households in Nigeria lack access to safe drinking water. Sixty-three percent (63%) of the nation's population live in rural areas where only 3% of households have access to safely managed drinking water. This suggests an urgent need for intervention to offer sustainable solutions to drinking water needs at household levels. An operational research was commissioned by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria to generate evidence to inform and guide Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programming on household water quality. This involved an assessment of local manufacturing of household water filters; factors influencing social acceptability and market opportunities for clay and biosand water filters in Nigeria. Implementation of the research recommendations by the filter factories resulted in improved bacterial removal efficiency (>97%) in filters. Factors such as filter design and efficiency were shown to influence acceptability of filters, which influenced the price at which users were willing to pay for the filters in the study areas. The market research indicated low popularity of the filters due to lack of promotion and marketing of the water filters. The research outcomes show great potential for sustainability and marketability of clay and biosand water filters for household water treatment in Nigeria.

A significant proportion of Nigerian households lack access to improved and safe drinking water supplies. This has resulted in high incidences of diarrhoeal-related deaths in the country, especially among young children. Several studies have shown that point-of-use water treatment options such as ceramic filtration are effective in reducing the occurrence of water-borne diseases; however, its use in Nigeria has been significantly low. There is a need to build entrepreneurial capacity among local potters and potteries to drive the scale up of ceramic water filter production across the nation in order to create demand for the filters, seeing that huge potential for its sales abounds. However, the high cost of acquisition of the ceramic water filter press, which is the most essential equipment in the production of the water filters, is a major limitation to the scale up of ceramic water filter production in the country. The goal of the study was to manufacture a ceramic water filter press, by adapting an existing design, using locally sourced materials and manpower, to achieve lower cost. The resulting filter press cost approximately $1000, proving the viability and cost efficiency of the local manufacture of ceramic water filter presses in Nigeria.