2022 IEEE 13th International Conference on Mechanical and Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies

Development of a Water Purification Device

2022 IEEE 13th International Conference on Mechanical and Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies (ICMIMT) | 978-1-6654-8400-8/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICMIMT55556.2022.9845284

Singatha Gcinamina Xaba Lagouge Kwanda Peter Madindwa Mashinini

Department of Mechanical and
Industrial Technology
University of Johannesburg
Johannesburg, South Africa
217021068@student.uj.ac.za
TartibuDepartment of
Mechanical and Industrial
Technology
University of Johannesburg
Johannesburg, South Africa
ltartibu@uj.ac.za
Department of Mechanical and
Industrial Technology
University of Johannesburg
Johannesburg, South Africa
mmashinini@uj.ac.za

Abstract—The world is faced with a decrease in freshwater
supply and current water infrastructure is under strain to supply
drinkable water. Some of the most recent designs for portable
purification devices are not able to purify all the different classes
of impurities. This paper presents the development of a water
purification device. To achieve this, the proposed solution will
purify water from a wider range of impurities including pathogens,
heavy metal and volatile organic compounds. The proposed
design is portable, modular, ecology-friendly and a low-cost
power-consuming design. Stainless steel is the selected material
for the design due to its high food grade approval. Purification is
based on boiling and heat exchanger systems. It incorporates an
inlet filter, activated carbon filter and outlet bio-sand filter to
purify contaminated water. The research found the design to be
theoretically able to remove the 4 types of impurities it was
designed to. Computational Fluid Dynamics was used to conduct
investigations on the effectiveness of the heat exchanger and was
found to be effective.
Keywords—design, portable water purification systems, volatile
organic compounds, heat exchanger, activated carbon filter, bio-
sand filter
I. INTRODUCTION
In general, ‘water’ is an inorganic, odourless, transparent,
tasteless, and nearly colourless chemical substance that is the
major constituent of the Earth’s hydrosphere and serves as a
fluid of most living organisms. There is a higher demand for
water due to increasing and competing uses of water, such as in
manufacturing, agriculture, health, and other sectors, which are
put forward as the main reasons for requiring water purification
systems. The United Nations World Water Development report
defines water as a chemical substance that is made up of two
hydrogen atoms bonded to a central oxygen atom via a covalent
bond [1]. According to South Africa’s Water Research
Commission, water purification is the process of removing
undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended
solids, and gases from water to produce water quality for a
specific goal [2].
This report will focus on portable water purification. The
proposed design is a solution to help address dwindling levels of
drinkable water as a result of an increase in pollution against a
decrease in available freshwater. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), there were 2.2 billion people without
high-quality drinking water in 2017 [3]. Primary factors
adversely affecting potable water are a drastic increase in
unpredictable climate change, water scarcity, population growth,
urbanization, and demographic changes. South Africa has a
physical stress level between 25 – 70% which shows the severity
and urgency of the need to innovate on both small-scale
(portable) and large-scale water solutions. A large body of work
is available in the literature for portable water purification
systems. Unfortunately, this information is unfocused and not
easily accessible. This paper aims to propose a portable water
purification device.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
This section will discuss waterborne pathogens and other
impurities, and portable water purifies.
Waterborne Pathogens and Other Impurities
Drinking contaminated water exposes people to disease-
causing organisms. Common pathogens found in drinking water
are protozoa, bacteria, and viruses.
• Protozoa: These are living microorganisms that live in
cells and tissues of people, animals, and the environment
[4]. A protozoan cyst is an infectious form of protozoan
parasites typically passed in the faeces with a highly
condensed cytoplasm [5]. Conversely, protozoan oocysts
are hardy, and thick-walled stages of the life cycle of
coccidian parasites shed in the faeces of people infected
with parasites. Cysts and oocysts are resistant to normal
residual chlorine levels, but there are devices capable of
removing 1-micron particles such as microfiltration or
ultraviolet (UV) disinfection [6].
• Bacteria: Bacteria are biological cells constituting a large
domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Normal levels of
chlorine are not able to kill bacteria. Microfiltration and
UV removes a majority of bacteria. Bacterial spores are
formed during adverse environmental conditions [7].
• Viruses: A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that
replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. A
virus is the most abundant biological entity in an aquatic
environment [8]. Normal chlorine levels and chemical
disinfection can kill viruses. Sizes of 0.01 microns water
filtration kill viruses [9].
Other impurities include heavy metals and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs). The following section gives clarity on their
composition:
• Heavy metals: These are naturally extracted from various
ores such as sulphides of iron, mercury, cadmium, lead,

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 arsenic or cobalt. These are the main toxicity–generating
elements for human beings through acid rain [10].
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): VOCs are carbon-
based molecules with a low weight and boiling point
which are detected by smell or scent [11]. Some have a
boiling point less than that of water i.e. 100 degrees
Celcius at sea level. Examples of VOCs are benzene (a
gasoline constituent), trichloroethylene (used in septic
cleaners), and tetrachloroethylene (used in the dry-
cleaning industry) [12].
A. Portable Water Purifiers
In this section, the following water treatment techniques will
be analyzed:
A. Membrane -related
B. Thermal -related
C. Chemical – related
D. Physical removal methods
B. Membrane – Related
This section provides details of water treatment techniques
that use membranes to purify water.
• Microfiltration (MF): This process is used to filter
microbes. A Household ceramic filter is made from burning a
mixture of clay and rice husk/sawdust is commonly used.
• Ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration: These membranes
are used to kill microbial contamination [13]. However,
UF based gadgets need backwash frequently due to
fouling.
• Reverse Osmosis (RO): This is the safest water treatment
because it removes all waterborne pathogens [14].
Typically, RO has pre-treatment and post-treatment steps
[13]. However, it needs huge energy demand. RO uses
high water pressure to overcome higher resistance due to
opposing osmotic pressure across the membrane [14].
• Forward Osmosis (FO): FO uses the principle of osmotic
pressure generated by concentrated sugar solution in bag
and semi-permeable membrane [14].
C. Thermal – Related
This section details the water treatment techniques based
on thermal methods to purify water.
• Boiling: This refers to a phase transition from a liquid
state to a gas state when a liquid is heated to its boiling
point and the vapour pressure of the liquid is equal to the
atmospheric pressure exerted on the liquid [15]. Boiling
water is not supposed to be done when chemical
contamination is present because this increases exposure
to chemicals such as nitrates and solvents.
• Thermal pasteurization: Pasteurization involves raising
water temperature enough to make water safe [16]. This
process kills water disease-causing organisms. Examples
of disease-causing organisms killed by this process
include Vibrio cholera, Cryptosporidium, the eggs of
worms, Shigella, Hepatitis A, and rotaviruses. This
process depends on time and pasteurization temperature.
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• Solar Disinfection (SODIS): SODIS involves using solar
radiation to treat water stored in transparent bottles made
of polyethene terephthalate (PET). PET bottles have non-
leaching properties [17]
• Solar distillation: This process uses the principles of
evaporation and condensation [18].
• Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) Treatment:
This process involves short wavelength UV rays
penetrating harmful pathogens and attacking the genetic
core (DNA) of illness-causing microorganisms. UV
systems destroy 99.99% of bacteria and viruses. However,
it does not kill contaminants such as chlorine, heavy
metals, and VOCs [19].
D. Chemical – Related
This section provides details of water treatment techniques
that use chemicals to purify water.
• Chlorination: This is a chemical that reacts with metals and
organic matter in water.
• Combined Flocculation and disinfection: This process
combines flocculant and chemical disinfectant powders to
kill pathogens. Disadvantages of using this treatment
method result in unsatisfactory taste, and bad odour. It is
time-consuming for sedimentation and disinfection.
• Adsorption: This is a wastewater purification technique for
removing a wide range of compounds from industrial
wastewater. Adsorption is mostly applied for drinking
water preparation and removal of non-degradable organic
compounds.
E. Physical Removal Methods
This section provides details of water treatment techniques
that use physical removal methods to purify water.
• Sedimentation or Clarification: Sedimentation uses
clarifiers in removing solid particles from liquids.
Clarification uses iron, alum, lime, Guar gum, Jatropha
curcas, and Moringa oleifera seeds to reduce turbidity and
microbes [17].
• Bio-sand Filter (BSF): BSF is a multi-layered portable
water purification system that uses microbiological and
mechanical methods to kill microbes in the water. This
process removes turbidity, viruses, protozoa, bacteria, and
heavy metals [20].
• Paper, Fabric, and Fibre Filters: These can remove
pathogens larger in diameter due to their larger pores [17].
Thus, they cannot remove most bacteria and viruses [21].
F. New Purifiers
This section provides details of water treatment techniques
that very novel purify water.
• Plant Xylem Filtration: This is a water treatment that uses
sapwood of trees which is mostly composed of xylem.
• Integrated Purification: This is a movable device classified
as a micro-hydraulic water treatment plant (MHMWTP)
that incorporates chlorination, rapid filtration,
 sedimentation, flocculation, and activated carbon filtration • Food grade material: The design must use the best material
[22]. with the highest food grade standard.
• Biopolymer reinforced nanocomposites: This process uses • Quality: The product must meet all quality standards and its
synthetic granular nanocomposites which can achieve expected life span.
microbiological and chemical disinfection. For effective • Protozoa and Viruses: The design needs to purify 99.99%
water microbial disinfection, silver ions release silver [23]. of protozoa and viruses.
• Volatile Organic Compounds: The design must remove
The proposed design will be based on the process flow
illustrated in Fig. 1. VOCs to drinkable levels.
• Minerals and salts: The design should remove minerals and
salts
The concepts are illustrated in the below figures of this
section. The first design is made from Polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) Plastic with a manual pump and an ultra-
Fig. 1. Process flow diagram filtration membrane. Fig. 2 shows illustrations.
III. RESULTS PET has the following benefits and weaknesses shown in
This section presents three proposed designs based on the Table 1.
process flow of Fig. 1 and the earlier discussion to achieve
TABLE I. PET BENEFITS AND WEAKNESSES
removal of the 4 classes of impurities.
Benefits Weaknesses
High elasticity: Clear Contains many chemicals
(a) Orthographic view: Side View (b) Sectional View strong, easy to shape and which interfere with hormones
lightweight e.g. bisphenol-A

Heat exposure results in

Good aesthetics chemicals leaching to bottled
water
Good gas barrier: resistant
to water vapour and
oxygen

(a) Orthographic view: Front View (b) Side View

Fig. 2. First proposed design

A. Concepts
This section will discuss concept generation and concept
selection.
Below are the decision criteria used in selecting the best
concept for this research.
• Safety: The design must be environmentally friendly and
not result in health hazards
• Cost: The cost must be competitively priced to make the
design affordable for developing communities.
• Efficiency: The design should reach the desired high ratio
of potable water to unclean water.
• Modular capability: The components must be modular, easy
to manufacture and sourced locally
(c) Side View of Top Part d) Blown up view of Tap
• Portability: The design will have a maximum mass of 5kg
to allow it to be possible to carry over a long period.
• Maintenance: The maintenance of the product must be user
friendly to allow non-technical clients to do it.

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 (e) Sectional View: Side

Fig. 4. Third Design

The section outlines the technical specifications of the

design. The proposed design will be as per the below
specifications:
TABLE II. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Items Technical Specifications
Capacity 5 litres storage
Sediment pre-filter, heating element,
Filtration Grade activated carbon filter and bio-sand
filter
Maximum liquid
1 litre per minute
flow
Fig. 3. Second design Maximum
5 bars
pressure
(a) Orthographic view: Side View (b) Sectional View: Blown up top view Maximum
120 Degrees Celsius
Temperature
Material selection Food grade approved material
Assembly Fully assembled

The design will be based on the stainless steel yield strength

of 580MPa. As long as the load is within the endurance limit
range of 265 – 307MPa, then theoretically the design will not
fail due to fatigue. The design will be based on a zero-based
constant amplitude load because when there is no water in the
system the load is at zero but when full. The design experiences
compressive loads. The compressive load needs to be below
310MPa for the design not to fail. The stress ratio will be
between 0 and -1 due to the compressive stress.
TABLE III. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STAINLESS STEEL
Mechanical
Type 316L Stainless Steel
Properties
Tensile Strength, MPa 673
(c) Sectional View: Side
Modulus of Elasticity,
165
GPa

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 Strength at the break, The figure below shows the parameters for the inlet and out
586 with CFD dimensions.
MPa
Elongation at break,
35.5
mm
Compressive strength,
170 -310
MPa
Endurance limit, MPa 265 – 307
Yield Strength, MPa 580
B. Equations
This section shows the equations used in this paper. The
Reynolds number is based on this equation and it was calculated
to be turbulent:
𝑉𝐷𝜌
𝑅= ,
µ (1)
The head loss is based on this equation:
𝐿 𝑉2
ℎ𝐿 = 𝑓 , (2)
𝐷 2𝑔

The pressure loss is based on this equation:

(a)
𝐿 𝝆𝑽𝟐
∆𝑃𝐿 = 𝑓 , (3) Fig. 5. Star CCM+ Drawing
𝐷 𝟐

The heat transfer rate is based on this equation:

𝑄̇ 𝜆𝐴
𝑞̇ =
𝑥
=
𝑥
(𝑡1 − 𝑡2 ), (4)
The thickness is based on this equation:

𝜎𝑙 +(1−𝜇)𝑝
𝑡 = 𝑟𝑖 [√
𝜎𝑙 −(1+𝜇)𝑝
− 1], (5)

IV. DISCUSSION
A. Discussion
This paper investigated the following:
▪ If the flow will be turbulent or laminar from the inlet
Fig. 6. Velocity fluid flow
of the heat exchanger to the outlet
▪ To determine the correlation of the 3D segregated This flow shows that the correlation was observed in the 3D
flow segregated flows with the continuity.
▪ Determine possible cavitation

CFD analysis for single flow was conducted on Star CCM+

with the following parameters:

TABLE IV. CFD ANALYSIS PARAMETERS ON STAR CCM+

Inlet Outlet Mesh Cell Count

Velocity: 0.832m/s Pressure: O Pa 3 351 566

For CFD Analysis, the design was tweaked to the following

measurements:
• 5D length for the inlet pipe connected to the coil
• 50D length for the outlet pipe leaving the coil
Fig. 7: 3D Flow

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 Results of simulation ran to 1000 iterations with the
following results:
• A reasonable correlation was observed between the
3D segregated flow with minor discrepancies at the
beginning of the iterations
• The inlet velocity moves from an average of -
1.2055m/s to 0m/s which shows that the fluid moved
from turbulence to laminar flow as the was enters the
freshwater unit
• It can be inferred that the negative average speeds are
for possible cavitation in the tube at the inlet and is the
fluid flows this corrects
V. CONCLUSION
This paper presented a development of a portable water
purification device that purifies a wide range of impurities i.e.
salts, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, protozoa and
bacteria. Despite the design solving a wide range of impurities,
it is based on mostly existing technology to demonstrate it will
work.
Based on the work covered in this report, the following
conclusions and recommendations for future work can be
drawn:
• The technologies of the boiling system, heat exchanger and
filtering systems were found to remove a wide range of
impurities.
• The technologies are, however, still need to be tested to
investigate the optimum assemblage.
• CFD Analysis was carried out to test the heat exchanger and
it was found to be effective in dropping the temperature
from 100 degrees to below 30 degrees
• CFD Analysis was able to demonstrate that the fluid will
flow from turbulence to laminar flow.
• Stainless steel was demonstrated to be an acceptable food
grade and more corrosion resistant.
• The design needs to be built to put to test the theoretical
framework and simulations presented
• Upon building, the design needs to be optimized to
investigate the effectiveness of the heat exchanger and the
purification abilities of the design.
• Investigation of the purified waters if it reaches acceptable
quality drinking standards
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is supported by the Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering Technology, Faculty of Engineering
and Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South
Africa.
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