Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

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Journal of Water Process Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jwpe

Development of medium-scale filtration device for supplying drinking

water during flood situations
Gunipe Prasanth Kumar, Arup Kumar Das *
Microfluidics laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial engineering, Indian institute of technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A scaled-up device for rapid water treatment is presented based on technologies described in earlier effort (“Point
Point of use of use drinking water filtration: A microfluidic solution providing safe drinking water during flood situation,” J.
Filtration Water Process Eng. 52 (2023) 103545). It comprises inertia-based microfluidic filtration, selective ion-exchange,
Throughput augmentation
antimicrobial activated carbon, and ultraviolet disinfection stages. The overall performance of the device is
Ion exchange
Carbon coating
tested using synthetic, field, and flood water samples. The size of the bypass port is optimized to achieve ~99 %
UV disinfection filtration efficacy. The length of IX media encapsulated in mini channels is adjusted by studying its effect in
limiting the dissolved solids and the hydraulic resistance. The adsorption performance and capacity of the AC at
equilibrium conditions is evaluated by tests using methylene blue. To augment the filtrate throughput, both unit
and module level parallelization scheme is developed. Unit filters are arranged both in planar and vertical levels
to form a parallelized module (PM). Subsequently, PMs are multiplexed with a carefully designed inlet dis­
tributary, outlet, and bypass collection network. The prototype device can treat nearly 400 L of raw water in six
days of continuous operation. Integrated UV reactors in the full-scale device, show complete sterilization of the
influent water.

throughput of the bottle cap prototype is sufficiently large for personal

1. Introduction
In case of emergency situations like floods and cyclones, the need for
safe drinking water will be high due to the disruption of necessary fa­
cilities and infrastructure [1,2]. To prevent the use of unsafe drinking
water, quick and effective response is vital. Providing quick aid can be
really challenging for relief agencies and often shoots beyond their ca­
pacity due to adverse conditions [3]. Point-of-use water treatment sys­
tems can be considered an immediate solution that helps people survive
until the relief aid arrives [4,5].
In our previous effort [6], the development of a portable microfluidic
bottle cap that filters grey water in passive mode with gravity-driven
feed is shown. The developed device has shown excellent performance
in the filtration parameters by consistently maintaining >99 % filtration
efficacy and 6 log reduction value (LRV) for the complete range of
samples tested. Similarly, the hybrid anti-bacterial carbon coating has
shown exceptional water stability, strong anti-bacterial and adsorption
performance. With a certain degree of parallelization, the bottle cap
setup has shown production of nearly 50 l of filtered water in four days
of continuous operation. Considering the small form factor, the
use (single person). However, it falls short for communal use (more than
one person), leading to extended wait time to purify the required volume
of water. This may limit the transformation of lab-scale developed
prototype [6], to commercial-scale production. Significant augmenta­
tion in the filtration flux (FF) is warranted to address this.
Parallelization is a simple yet very effective and proven technique for
increasing the throughput of microfluidic systems [7–10]. In addition,
with proper design considerations, parallelization increases the unifor­
mity in the flow and service life of the system. Owing to this, several
researchers [11,12] have employed the parallelization strategy to
enhance the overall performance of the filtration systems. Li et al. [13]
have shown the filtration of flocs containing Fe3O4 at high filtration flux
(750,000 l/m2-h), achieved with high levels of parallelization. A study
on ceramic membrane filters [14] has shown an increase in the average
filtration flux from 1.4 l/h to 4.5 l/h by parallelizing five individual
filters. Similarly, Chan et al. [15] highlighted reduced treatment times
and high throughput operation of palm oil mill effluent processing by
massive parallelization. The new class of membrane-less microfiltration
techniques using inertial microfluidics also used a parallelization strat­
egy of vertical stacking of microfluidic chip containing four spiral

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: arupdas80@gmail.com (A.K. Das).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2023.104280
Received 29 May 2023; Received in revised form 4 September 2023; Accepted 8 September 2023
Available online 13 September 2023
2214-7144/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
Acronyms
AC Activated carbon
AgNP Silver nanoparticles
CA Citric acid
CFU Colony forming unit
CMC Carboxy methylcellulose
FOV Field of view (mm)
FF Filtration flux
LED Light emitting diode
LRV Log reduction value
MPAES Microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy
channels to increase the throughput from 1 to 2 ml/min to 150–300 ml/
min for separation of yeast cells from water [16]. On the other hand,
contamination due to organic [17] and inorganic pollutants [18] is
another facet of water pollution to be addressed. Due to widespread use
in various industries, dyes, and pigments are considered as one of the
major contributors to organic pollution in water bodies [19]. If left
untreated, they pose serious problems to human health and the
ecosystem [20]. Among several treatment techniques available,
adsorption using activated carbon is considered to be simple, effective,
and energy-efficient [21]. Similarly, Ion exchange chromatography is
considered to be one of the most effective treatment techniques in
limiting the inorganic contaminants in water [22]. For effective disin­
fection of influent water samples without producing harmful byprod­
ucts, the photo sterilization process using short-wavelength UV light is a
promising and proven technique to inactivate a wide range of patho­
gens, including chemical-resistant cysts of Cryptosporidium, and Giardia
[23].
Accordingly, in the current effort, we aim to investigate the efficacy
of individual stages like inertia-based microfiltration, IX chromatog­
raphy, anti-bacterial carbon coating, UV disinfection, and a product
combining all these together, along with parallelization scheme of the
filtration concept [6] at the module level to improve the overall filtra­
tion performance, providing a holistic water treatment solution. The
effect of change in the filter design and the pillar arrangement on the
optimized bypass port size is investigated. A way to integrate the ion
exchange chromatography into the present device is presented, and the
flexibility of the device architecture in incorporating an additional
contaminant removal stage on demand is discussed. The adsorption
performance of the AC stage is tested quantitatively using methylene
blue as a model organic pollutant. Further, the key design considerations
in the parallelization strategy, including the design of distributary
channels to supply the influent water to all unit filters uniformly and the
flexible device architecture for easy serviceability with less downtime,
are detailed.
2. Materials and methods
To increase the degree of parallelization, the architecture of the
previous design [6] of a circular microfilter arranged in a circular array
is modified. The circular array design has limitation in the degree of
parallelization in the planar level. Designing inlet, non-overlapping
outlet, and bypass distributaries that perfectly connects the inlet,
outlet, and bypass ports of all the filters will be complex and challenging
for the design with more than six circular units arranged on a single chip
(in a single plane). To increase the planar level parallelization with
efficient utilization of 2D planar area, the arrangement of the micro­
filters is modified from a circular to a rectangular array. A rectangular
array simplifies the design of the flow distributaries (inlet, outlet, and
bypass), allowing for higher levels of parallelization with uniform flow
distribution.
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Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
MF Microfilter
NTU Nephelometric turbidity units
PAC Plasma treated activated carbon
PC Parallelized cluster
PDMS Poly dimethyl siloxane
POU Point of Use
PM Parallelized module
SEM Scanning electron microscope
TSS Total suspended solids
TBC Total bacterial count
UV-C Ultraviolet-C radiation
UF Unit filter
Further, the design of the microfilter is changed accordingly from
circular to rectangular shape. The schematic of the modified design is
illustrated in Fig. 1. The overall idea (Fig. 1(a)) is similar to earlier effort
[6], where the filtration setup is connected to a water container by screw
cap arrangement, and the water is filtered under gravity-driven feed.
The system comprises multiple stages of filtration and treatment. The
inlet U-pipe is very effective in screening out coarse particles with
gravity assistance, which is detailed in our previous work [6]. The
exploded view in Fig. 1(b) shows an inlet distributary that gets influent
from U-pipe and distributes it equally to each unit filter in the microfilter
array. The outlet distributary collects the filtered water, whereas the
bypass stream is rejected. The filtered water will be directed to subse­
quent ion exchange (IX) and activated carbon (AC) stages. All the stages
are perfectly oriented and bonded/sealed using high-energy oxygen
plasma. The filtration, IX, and AC stages are connected using micro
connectors that offer excellent flexibility in replacing any stage without
disturbing the other parts of the system. The corresponding fabricated
PDMS layers of each stage are shown in Fig. 1(d).
All the functional filtration and treatment layers are fabricated in
two step process, i.e., photolithography followed by soft lithography, the
details of which are described elsewhere [10,24]. The design and
dimensional details of the unit microfilter are shown in Fig. 2. It consists
of a rectangular array of circular micropillars arranged in a staggered
fashion with an inlet header. The characteristic length of the filter is
same as circular array design [6], Lc = 10 ± 1 μm with an overall
footprint (L × W) of 12 mm × 10 mm. The height of the pillars is 75 ± 1
μm. The inlet and bypass ports are positioned at the opposite ends of the
inlet header.
2.1. Water samples
To test the effectiveness of the filtration system, 14 water samples are
used, which include four synthetic samples (A11, A12, A21, A22) pre­
pared in the lab, five field samples (S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5), and five flood
samples (F1, F2, F3, F4, and F5). Two types of dust particulates are used
to prepare synthetic lab samples with desired turbidity levels.
The samples are agitated using an ultra-sonicator (FB15046, Fisher
brand) for even dispersion before experimentation. Stagnant locations
that concentrate the water pollution are selected for field sample
collection. Similarly, flood samples are collected from the zones that are
frequently hit by floods and with dense populations. The details of the
water samples are summarized in Table. 1. The turbidity is measured
using a digital turbidity meter (Hach 2100p) with a resolution of 0.01
NTU. Whereas pH, EC, and TDS are measured using a Hanna meter
(HI991300P, Hanna Inc., Ind). Field testing has been performed for the
sampling points that are nearby. However, sterilized, opaque water
containers are used to transport the samples to the experimental facility
for sampling points located at long distances. Synthetic water samples
(A1, A2) are used to fine-tune the geometrical attributes of the unit filter,
test the performance, and identify the working range. The particle
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

Fig. 1. Schematic depiction of modified microfluidic filtration system. (a) The overall idea of the filtration system, (b) exploded view showing individual stages of the
parallelized cluster (PC), connected in a perfect orientation using plasma bonding and micro connectors (c). (d) Actual fabricated PDMS layers for different stages
corresponding to PC.

Fig. 2. Design and dimensional details of the functional filter.

migration dynamics inside the filter is studied using a high-speed cam­
era (Phantom Miro C100) connected to an inverted microscope (Nikon
Ts2R-FL).
A hybrid parallelization scheme, i.e., UF’s parallelized in both planar
and vertical fashion, is used to augment the throughput. First, 16 UF’s
are arranged as a 4 × 4 matrix at the planar level, i.e., in a single PDMS
layer. Two such layers are vertically stacked by plasma bonding (HAR­
RICK PLASMA PDC-002-CE). An inlet distributary is attached on the top
for uniform distribution of influent for all UF’s. Similarly, an outlet/
bypass distributary is attached at the bottom to collect the outlet and
bypass stream separately. The parallelized planer layer, inlet, and
outlet/bypass distributary designs are shown in Fig. 3. The resulting unit
is referred to as a parallelized module (PM). Various performance pa­
rameters (filtration efficacy, throughput, service life, flow uniformity,
etc.) of PM, in the long run, are assessed using synthetic water samples.
Filtration efficiency of the UF and PM is measured in terms of %

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G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

Table 1
Physiochemical properties and the details of the water bodies used for testing.
Sample type id Conc. (%W/ Details (Density, avg. particle size Nature Turbidity (NTU/ TDS (mg/L) pH E.C (μS/cm) Temp
Vol) /collection location) 100) (◦ C)

Synthetic A1 0.2, 0.3 Clay dust (1510 kg/m3, 12.8 μm) NB 2.22 ± 0.1, 3.53 ± 182.5 ± 4.2 7.8 ± 0.1 347.15 ± 24.1 ±
samples 0.15 6.7 1.4
3
A2 0.2, 0.3 Industrial soot (1280 kg/m , 6.3 μm) NB 1.6 ± 0.11, 2.9 ± 174.4 ± 3.4 7.4 ± 0.1 328.03 ± 23.8 ±
0.12 5.4 1.3
Field samples S1 – Bhagwanpur river, UK, IN B & NB 1.26 ± 0.1 224.6 ± 8.34 ± 441.84 ± 20.6 ±
15.1 0.21 29.5 0.8
S2 – Ganga river, UK, IN B & NB 0.7 ± 0.05 120.8 ± 8.46 ± 208.4 ± 19.4 ±
11.2 0.4 12.3 1.1
S3 – Mehwar canal, UK, IN B & NB 1.7 ± 0.08 177.25 ± 7.96 ± 334.78 ± 20. 9 ±
12.6 0.21 18.6 1.1
S4 – Godavari river, AP, IN B & NB 0.56 ± 0.05 162.54 ± 7.8 ± 302.25 ± 21.6 ±
15.32 0.63 24.2 2.4
S5 – Krishna river, AP, IN B & NB 0.94 ± 0.09 242.47 ± 8.2 ± 480.9 ± 22.9 ±
14.8 0.36 16.8 1.8
Flood samples F1 – Guwahati, Assam, IN B & NB 1.81 ± 0.12 215.0 ± 9.6 8.6 ± 0.4 420.25 ± 20.68 ±
12.4 0.6
F2 – Bombay, MH, IN B & NB 1.4 ± 0.06 341 ± 15.54 8.4 ± 703.64 ± 22.47 ±
0.32 32.2 1.8
F3 – Hyderabad, TG, IN B & NB 2.96 ± 0.15 298.5 ± 8.3 ± 606.93 ± 23.4 ±
12.3 0.55 22.98 1.4
F4 – Bangalore, KA, IN B & NB 2.78 ± 0.12 279.2 ± 8.4 ± 384.67 ± 21.2 ±
7.48 0.18 41.8 2.2
F5 – Dehradun, UK, IN B & NB 1.5 ± 0.07 238.7 ± 8.4 ± 471.9 ± 20.67 ±
8.24 0.22 15.77 0.8

B – Buoyant, NB – Non-buoyant, E.C – Electrical conductivity, UK- Uttarakhand, AP- Andhra Pradesh, MH – Maharashtra, TG – Telangana, KA – Karnataka, IN – India.

Fig. 3. The designs and dimensional details of the parallelized planer filtration layer, inlet and outlet/bypass distributary.

reduction in turbidity (NTU), which is evaluated using the following
expression:
[ ]
NTU in − NTU f
× 100 (1)
NTU in
Here, NTUin and NTUf are the turbidity values of raw and filtered water,
respectively. A similar expression is used to calculate the % reduction of
other water quality parameters. On the other hand, FF is evaluated by
measuring the sample volume filtered for a given amount of time. In all
the experiments, greywater samples are processed through the filters
under gravity feed corresponding to 2 l and 5 l gravitational heads unless
specified otherwise.
2.2. Selective ion-exchange resin encapsulated in mini channel
Here, we have presented a way to integrate ion exchange chroma­
tography into the present device by encapsulating the functional resin
inside mini channels. It is designed to have a serpentine geometry for
effective space utilization. The length of the channel is 0.85 m and the
cross-section is W × H = 3 × 2 mm (Fig. 4(a)). Each mini channel can
hold nearly 5 cc volume of Ion media. A strong acid cation exchange
resin (INDION 225 Na F) with sulphonic acid groups is investigated for
the variations in the TDS of the water sample after processing through it.
The characteristics of resin are provided in Table 2.
After loading, the selective ion media is thoroughly washed with DI
water to clean any leachable contaminants. The adsorption performance
of IX stage is tested by investigating the % reduction in the TDS value
after treatment. For this, DI water spiked with sodium bicarbonate to a
TDS value of 700 is used. The spiked water is then processed through IX
media at a constant flow rate using a syringe pump (New era NE-1010).
The residence time is controlled by increasing the number of IX stages
(1, 2, 3 and 4 stage configurations). The
% reduction in the TDS is evaluated for each configuration imme­
diately after the treatment.
Similarly, the long-term working performance and the overall ser­
vice life of the IX stage is tested for two, and four-stage configurations
using TDS spiked water (700). The residual dissolved solids in the

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G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
Fig. 4. Design and dimensional details of (a) IX, and (b) AC stages.
Table 2
Characteristics of ion exchange resin encapsulated in mini PDMS channel.
Characteristic property Matrix Functional group
Value/description Styrene divinylbenzene copolymer Sulphonic acid
treated water are measured at a specific time interval of 1 h. When the
ion matrix reaches a fully exhausted state, it can be regenerated by
passing diluted HCL (5 % vol) through the provided regenerative ports
(Fig. 4(a)). Alternatively, the IX stage can be replaced with a new one
when it is exhausted.
2.3. Development of antibacterial-hybrid carbon coating
The anti-bacterial hybrid carbon coating used here is adapted from
our previous work [6]. The complete preparation process is summarized
schematically in Fig. 5. The anti-bacterial carbon material is coated onto
a mini channel with a serpentine design (W × H = 2× mm; L = 0.98 m),
as shown in Fig. 4(b). The anti-bacterial performance of the developed
coating is evaluated by conducting continuous flow channel experi­
ments for different residence times at a constant flow rate. The residence
time is adjusted by increasing the number of passes through the coated
channels. Five configurations are tested, characterized by the number of
passes ranging from 2 to 10 at an interval of 2. For its common presence
in water and survival capacity in diverse conditions, E. coli (DH5α) is
used as the model organism in antimicrobial tests.
For plate assay tests, a water sample is spiked with E. coli to an initial
concentration of 106 CFU/ml and passed through the carbon-coated
channel. A small volume of (1 ml) treated water is introduced into a
sterile petri dish containing 15 ml of molten Lauri-Broth agar (LB agar,
Fig. 5. Flow chart describing the preparation process of water-stable anti-bacterial hybrid carbon coating.
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Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
Ionic form Min. operational capacity (meq/mL) Avg. particle size (mm)
Sodium 2.0 0.8
Himedia) media. After solidification, it is incubated at 37 ◦ C for 24 h.
The colony-forming units are counted accurately using an image anal­
ysis technique (Image J). It is extremely important to ensure the silver
content released from the carbon coating into the water should not
accumulate beyond the acceptable limits (100 mg/l) in drinking water
during its long-term operation. For this, continuous flow experiments
are performed by passing Milli-Q water through the PAC-AgNP coated
channels at a flow rate corresponding to the maximum possible
permeate outflow after the IX stage. Sampling was done every 12 h for a
period of 6 days. The silver concentration in the samples is measured
using ICP-MS (< 10 μm/l) and MP-AES (> 10 μm/l). Similarly, the
reduction in the silver content on the AC surface is measured using ICP-
MS and MP-AES.
Next, the adsorption performance of the developed carbon coating is
tested using methylene blue (C16H18N3SCl.3H2O) as a representative
organic contaminant in water. The desired concentration (100 mg/L) of
methylene blue is obtained by diluting it with DI water. The adsorption
performance is tested in both batch (shake flask test) and continuous
flow mode (pumped through coated microchannel). The measurements
of the dye concentration in the water are made at 664 nm by using a
UV–vis spectrometer (Cary 100, Agilent Technologies). The standard
calibration curve of MB is given in Fig. 6. Batch experiments were
conducted in a 750 ml glass beaker containing 500 ml of MB solution
with an initial concentration (Ci) of 100 mg/l. After adding 0.2 g of
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

the coated channel. This was achieved by vertical stacking of individual

channels and interconnecting them together. MB solution with Ci of 100
mg/l is passed continuously through the coated channels at a constant
flow rate. The reduction in the MB concentration in the treated sample is
measured for different residence times till 120 min at an interval of 5
min. Similarly, the service life of the carbon stage for effective adsorp­
tion is estimated for different configurations characterized by the
number of passes (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10). Once the adsorption capacity of
activated carbon reaches saturation, it can be either regenerated or
replaced. Unlike thermal regeneration, in low resource settings, chem­
ical regeneration techniques using a mixture of sodium hydroxide
(NaOH) and ethanol (CH3CH2OH) are proven to be very effective in
regenerating activated carbon with a desorption yield of 40 to 90 %
without affecting the surface properties of the carbon [25].
The adsorption capacity at the equilibrium state, qe (mg/g), and
removal efficiency (%) is evaluated using the following expressions:
[ ]
Ci − Ce
qe = V (2)
M

Ci − Ce
η (%) = × 100 (3)
Ci
Fig. 6. Calibration curve of methylene blue at 664 nm.
where, Ci and Ce are the initial and equilibrium concentration of MB,
hybrid carbon, the solution is agitated using a magnetic stirrer at 200 respectively. V is the volume of the MB aqueous solution (l), and M is the
rpm until it reaches equilibrium. In the continuous flow experiments, the mass of the adsorbent in grams.
active contact time (residence time) is varied by changing the length of

Fig. 7. Design and dimensional details of the UV disinfection setup. (a) CAD model of the entire UV setup, individual components, and their arrangement. (b)
Schematic of the UV chamber with central partition, and (c) UVC LED sealed in PDMS housing.

6
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
2.4. UVC LED reactor
Similar to AC and IX chip designs, the UV disinfection setup is
designed to have a rectangular shape. The planar design of the UV
reactor has a compact structure and better integration than the con­
ventional annular flow design. It consists of a long UV chamber with a
central partition and a battery compartment separated by a blind, as
shown in Fig. 7(a).
The UV LED is sealed in a PDMS strip to prevent ambient contami­
nation. The UV LEDs used here are similar to our previous work [6]. The
central partition is given to support the PDMS strips and increase the
uniformity of the UV fluence. An opening at the bottom side of the
central partition allows the movement of water between chambers 1 and
2. The outlet is covered with an enclosure of height h1, while the height
of the UV chamber is h2. Both chambers have individual UVC LEDs
(Wavelength: 275 nm) enclosed in a PDMS housing and mounted on the
top slot. The design representation of UV chambers and UVC LED with
PDMS housing is given in Fig. 7(b) & (c).
The UV LED system is very effective in sterilizing water samples [6].
For a constant LED power, the important parameters that affect the
performance of the UV reactor are the uniformity of UV fluence with
higher transmittance and residence time. Higher UV fluence uniformly
received in all directions results in faster inactivation rates. Similarly,
higher residence times result in higher UV doses for complete inacti­
vation. The residence time is controlled by varying the height of the
outlet enclosure, h1. To increase the uniformity of UV irradiation, a
reflective inner lining (polished aluminium foil) is provided on the walls
of chambers 1 and 2. The efficacy of the UV disinfection system is tested
under constant flow conditions with E. coli spiked water for two con­
figurations differentiated by the presence of a reflective inner lining. The
optimal value of h1 is investigated for complete inactivation of microbes.
Standard plate count method is used to measure the concentration of
viable cells present in the water samples before and after UV treatment.
2.5. Medium-scale prototype with module-level parallelization
The IX and the AC stages are connected to the PM by means of micro
connectors with flexible press fitting (Fig. 1(c)). The outlet of the PM is
Fig. 8. Module-level parallelization of PC cartridges in a planar and vertical orientation to form a 4 × 4 matrix of 16 parallelized units. (a) Schematic of the quarter
model showing the scheme of parallelization, structural components, and their connections. (b) A flexible outer housing that enables easy replacement of individual
PC cartridges without disturbing the functionality of the full setup.
7
Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
connected to the inlet of the IX stage, and the outlet of the IX stage is
connected to the inlet of the AC stage. The reject bypass stream from the
PM is taken to the last carbon layer by punching the through-hole from
which it is rejected using pipe connectors. The PM combined with IX and
carbon stages is referred to as PC (Parallelised cluster). The strategy
adopted in integrating different stages offers a robust and leakproof
setup with excellent flexibility in servicing for quick replacement/
recharge from any of the three stages.
To extend the usability of the present technology for more users, a
substantial increase in the throughput is warranted. Taking queue from
the knowledge of parallelisation adapted for PM, a similar scheme is
developed, but at the module level, where several PC cartridges are
multiplexed. The CAD model (quarter model) showing the paralleliza­
tion scheme and the full outer housing is illustrated in Fig. 8(a) & (b).
The structural components of the prototype, in a sequential manner, are
the inlet U-pipe, main circular distributary, pneumatic connectors,
flexible silicon piping for influent distribution, 3D printed outlet and
bypass collection pipes, filtration cartridges, outer housing, and UV
disinfection chambers.
The inlet U-pipe is connected to a 3D-printed water distributary by
means of a top closing plate. The circular distributary has 16 holes (ϕ
=10 mm) into which 16 pneumatic air/water-tight connectors are
tightly fitted. The skeleton of the outer housing is provided with sleeve-
like rectangular clamps inside. Each PC cartridge can be easily secured
in this rectangular clamp by simply sliding. The rectangular clamps are
carefully designed to secure the PC cartridges without much tension
while providing enough space for all the inlet, outlet, and bypass con­
nections. Each quarter of the housing has five clamps. Four are for
housing PC cartridges summing up to a total of 16 modules (4 × 4
matrix) in the full model. This arrangement results in a massive paral­
lelization of 512 individual UFs to filter the incoming influent. Flexible,
food-grade silicon pipes transport the water from the main circular
distributary to the inlet header of each PC cartridge connected by press
fitting. Similarly, the outlet and bypass streams are separately collected
using 3D-printed pipes that are press fitted to each PC cartridge. This
offers excellent flexibility for quick servicing of the individual modules.
For the medium-scale system, the design of the U-pipe is scaled up to
maintain a similar filtration effect while limiting the flow rate reduction.
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
A dedicated UVC chamber is used for each quarter to disinfect the water.
The header pipe collecting the filtered stream from each quarter is
connected to UV disinfection chamber, as shown in Fig. 8(a). Further,
the outer housing has service windows that allow easy removal and
replacement of the individual modules without disturbing the func­
tionality of the full model. This modular filtration system offers a high
degree of flexibility and excellent serviceability. As the cartridges
operate individually, the system can operate continuously with no
downtime, even during the replacement and servicing of individual
cartridges.
The overall performance of the final multiplexed prototype is tested
with a complete range of synthetic (A), field (S), and floodwater samples
(F). The functionality of the individual treatment stages in the final
prototype is tested to understand the performance dependency among
the connecting stages, and how it affects the performance of the
assembled prototype. The Initial tests are carried out using synthetic
samples with spiked microbial concentrations. Four synthetic greywater
samples (A11, A12, A21, A22) prepared from two particle types of
varying concentrations are spiked with E. coli to an initial concentration
of 5 × 105 CFU/ml. The performance of the device is evaluated based on
four performance parameters such as filtration efficacy, throughput,
reduction in dissolved solids, and microbial concentration. The tests
were conducted at 2 and 5 l gravitational heads by processing at least 50
l of synthetic samples through the prototype in each experiment. Sam­
pling was done at every 15 min interval to evaluate the performance
parameters.
Next, the developed prototype is tested for its performance and
robustness in the long run to get an estimate of the period of re­
placements warranted for different stages and possible problems that
can limit its functionality. The tests are conducted for a period of six
days, with intermittent breaks of 10 min at the end of two/three days to
replace the treatment (IX & AC) stages. For this one synthetic (A1) and
one field water sample (S1) is considered. The synthetic water sample
with fixed particle concentration (0.3 % W/Vol) is spiked to higher
values of TDS (700) and microbial concentration (106 CFU/ml). Sam­
pling was done at different time intervals to measure the water quality
parameters. The sampling frequency is higher at the initial stage, after
which it was done at a constant rate of 12 h intervals. Both the samples
are fed into the prototype at a constant gravitational head of 5 l. Finally,
the tests were extended to the field (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) and flood water
samples (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5) to assess the ability of the developed system
to handle the real-world water samples. The samples are processed
through the multiplexed setup at 5 l gravitational head, and the treated
water is immediately tested for the change in the water quality.
Statistical analyses are done using IBM SPSS 27.0. Data were pre­
sented as mean ± standard deviation from three independent experi­
ments with two duplicate samples at each sampling point. For the
investigated parameters, the distribution normality is checked using the
Shapiro-Wilk test. ANOVA and POSTANOVA with Tukey’s HSD method
are used to check the significant statistical differences. A low value of
probability coefficient, p < 0.05, is considered statistically significant.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Filtration performance
Although the characteristic length scale of the microfilter is similar
to our previous effort [6], the change in the arrangement of the pillar
array can modify the dynamics of particulate flow in the filter. Since the
size of the bypass port will govern the separation efficacy and
throughput, optimizing it for the modified architecture is very important
for overall filtration performance.
Owing to this, we have performed the optimization study on the
bypass port for five values of bp (expressed in normalized scale as Lc/bp
= 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.1, & 0.12) to achieve complete particle separation.
The results corresponding to the optimization study using synthetic
8
Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
greywater samples (A1, A2 (0.2 and 0.3 % W/Vol)) processed at a
constant flow rate corresponding to 2 l gravitational head are summa­
rized in Fig. 9(b). The results show a slightly modified value for opti­
mized bypass port size compared to the previous design [6]. Intuitively,
the filtration efficacy increased with a decrease in Lc/bp, and reached
>99 % turbidity reduction for Lc/bp = 0.08. This was found to be
consistent for all the synthetic greywater samples tested in this effort.
However, the filtration flux (FF) follows a decreasing trend. For Lc/bp =
( )
outlet flowrate
0.08, the filtration flux ratio FFR = bypass flow rate × 100 is found to be 9
± 2. As the prime objective is to achieve a particulate-free sample, the
minimum value of bp, that produces 99 % particulate-free effluent is
chosen as the optimized configuration (Lc/bp = 0.08) for rectangular
pillar array design. This is also confirmed from the microscopic images
(Fig. 9(a)) showing the particle concentration in the bypass and outlet
water samples, depicted for two bypass port configurations (optimized
and non-optimized), i.e., Lc/bp = 0.08 and 0.14 with an influent particle
concentration of 0.3 % W/Vol (A12). No particulates are found in the
filtered (outlet) stream corresponding to the optimized bypass port
opening (Lc/bp = 0.08), whereas a small fraction of particles are present
in the outlet stream for Lc/bp = 0.14. One of the reasons for the shift in
the optimized bypass port size for the present design as compared to the
previous circular design [6] is the increase in the length of the pillar
array, causing a change in the hydraulic resistance.
The particle migration kinetics in the new design is studied using
high-speed microscopy. With the optimized bypass port configuration, it
is observed that the suspended particles are carried away with the fluid
flow towards the bypass port and getting separated. All the suspended
particulates in the flow experience hydrodynamic forces caused by the
variations in the velocity field in the header and within the pillar’s
opening. The velocity gradients generated in the header, lead to higher
inertial forces experienced by the particles on one side (towards bypass).
As a result, the particles tend to rotate and experience an additional
spherical field, which causes them to move away from the pillar’s sur­
face. Additionally, local variations in the velocity field generate wall
repulsion and vortex-induced forces, which, upon acting on the particle,
prevents its entry into the pillar’s interface. Also, pillars made by PDMS
attain a negative surface charge upon contacting other materials like
water [16], contributing to particle rejection by ionic repulsion.
The detailed force balance analysis on the particles in a header flow
is given in our previous work [6], which is qualitatively similar to the
present observation. Due to high-velocity fluid flow, the motion of the
particles located far from the pillar array is governed by the main flow
directed towards the bypass port, and particles near the walls of the
pillar surface are governed by the balance of the main and crossflow
drag components along with the wall effects. The crossflow drag is
dominant when the particle is located very close (≤ 10 μm) to the pillar’s
surface. The high-velocity main flow, wall effects, and localized velocity
gradients will limit particle movement from coming close to the pillar’s
surface and eventually bypass it.
However, the particles may sometimes come very close to the pillar’s
surface. Specifically, particles near the inlet zone, moving perpendicular
to the main flow towards the pillar surface, will first experience a
repulsive force followed by a wall retardation effect. If the initial inertia
of the particle is very strong, it can overcome the wall repulsion force. As
a result, the particle will enter inside the tcr (sufficiently close to the
pillar surface). In such cases, the wall retardation effect and the cross­
flow drag will dominate and prevent the particle from bypassing the
pillar interface. Hence, these particulates will be either retained at the
pillar interface by size exclusion or enter the pillar array. This can be
seen from the high-speed microscopic analysis near the inlet zone
(Fig. 10), where the particle located very close to the pillar surface do
not experience the main flow drag and enter the pillar array. However,
this phenomenon is rare and has only been observed near the inlet,
where the flow is not fully developed. These observations are in line with
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

Fig. 9. Characterizing the filtration performance of the microfilter for different bypass port sizes (Lc/bp). (a) Microscopic images showing the particle concentration
in outlet and bypass streams for the influent concentration of 0.3 % W/Vol. The images are shown for two bypass port sizes (Lc/bp = 0.14 & 0.08) as representatives.
(b) Optimizing the size of the bypass port for complete particle separation. (c) Filtration flux of the UF with optimized bypass port (Lc/bp = 0.08) configuration under
2 l gravitational head.

Fig. 10. Images from highspeed microscopic analysis captures a rare phenomenon showing the dominant effect of crossflow drag (Fd2) on the near wall particle
(located within the critical streamline thickness, tcr) complimented by the wall retardation effect that guides the particle through the pillar interface into the
pillar array.

9
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
our previous numerical simulations [6], which proposed a bounding
streamline thickness (tcr) close to the pillar surface, above which the
particulate motion is restricted at the pillar interface in the low-velocity
zone. With the inclusion of a bypass port, a major fraction of influent
water is getting bypassed, reducing the amount of filtrate at the outlet.
For the optimized configuration (Lc/bp = 0.08), nearly 90 % of the
influent is bypassed. The resulting FF of the unit filter (UF) under 2 l
gravity head is found to be nearly 10.4 ml/h (Fig. 9(c)) when tested with
synthetic greywater samples.
A significant augmentation in the throughput is achieved through
hybrid parallelization. With 32 individual UF’s operating in parallel, the
average FF of PM is increased to nearly 266 ml/h (Fig. 11(a)). Further,
upon testing for long-term workability (96 h), PM has consistently
shown excellent filtration efficacy (> 99 %) and long service life. This
signifies the robust parallelization and distribution scheme adopted in
the present work. At the end of the testing period (96 h), the cumulative
filtrate volume collected at the outlet is nearly 23 l, and the reduction in
the FF is <30 % (Fig. 11(b)), indicating that the PM can effectively filter
beyond the testing period by maintaining similar filtration efficacy. The
decline in the FF is much smaller than the traditional membrane filters
(nearly 50 % reduction) operating in crossflow mode [26–28] at much
lower influent particle concentrations with no pretreatment stages. This
is due to the fact that the present technique is based on the hydrody­
namic separation of heterogenous particulates assisted by geometry-
induced flow features and inertial force balance rather than simple
size exclusion resulting in no stable fouling growth and increased service
life.
3.2. Adsorption analysis of selective ion exchange media
The performance of the IX media is evaluated in terms of its equi­
librium adsorption capacity, hydraulic resistance offered, and service
life using continuous flow experiments at a constant flow rate. Fig. 12(a)
shows the percent reduction in the dissolved solids (primary axis) at
equilibrium conditions for four configurations characterized by the
number of passes, with TDS spiked water (700) processed at 650 ml/h.
The column length is increased by vertical stacking of the IX channels
one over the other resulting in one, two, three, and four-pass configu­
rations. From the results, a linear pattern was observed, showing a
progressive decrease in the TDS values in the treated samples, with the
configurations having a higher number of passes. A
two-pass configuration shows close to 50 % reduction, and a four-
pass configuration has >80 % reduction. Further, the operating capac­
ity of the resin measured from the lab titration method is found to be 2.0
Fig. 11. Sample processing characteristics and long-term working capability of the parallelized module (PM). (a) Filtration flux of the PM under 2 l gravity head
tested with synthetic greywater samples. (b) Long-term performance of the PM characterized by % reduction in FF tested for 96 h of continuous operation with
synthetic grey water sample (A12).
10
Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
meq/ml.
Parallelly, the loss in the FF due to pressure drop across each ion
exchange stage is investigated for different column lengths. The results
show (Fig. 12(a), secondary axis) a continuous decrease in the FF as the
column length increases. A two-pass configuration resulted in a 32 %
reduction in FF, followed by a steep decline with >80 % reduction for a
four-pass configuration. On a combined scale, a two-pass configuration
shows good adsorption performance at the expense of lower pressure
drop. Hence, a two-stage configuration is incorporated in the current
prototype for its better operational characteristics and suitability.
However, the number of passes of IX stage can be increased depending
on the influent and desired effluent water quality.
Next, the service life of the IX stage is evaluated for two and four-pass
configurations with TDS (700) spiked water at 650 ml/h. The flow rate
value is chosen based on the maximum possible FF from PM operating at
a 5 l filtration head. Here, the exhaustion time is referred to as the time
at which the reduction in TDS values reaches <50 % of the initial value.
The test results are summarized in Fig. 12(b). Initially, a large number of
active sites on the resin matrix facilitated a higher reduction in TDS,
which quickly stabilized at 82 % and 48 % for four and two-stage con­
figurations, respectively. It also suggests a lower leakage value through
the resin column in the initial period. As a result, the performance of the
IX stage remains constant for a relatively long time, after which a sudden
dip is observed. This is due to the gradual depletion of the number of
active sites and reaching the column’s last part with time. At this con­
dition, the ion exchange capacity suddenly decreases, resulting in higher
leakage values. This trend is observed to be similar for both configura­
tions, with a higher exhaustion time for the four-pass setup (46 h) than
the two-pass setup (27 h). Although IX chromatography is a widely
investigated and proven technique in limiting the dissolved ion con­
centration, the novel aspect is the integration of it into the present de­
vice. Further, the present study has only demonstrated the integration of
cation exchange resin and its performance characteristics. However, the
same method can be adapted to add other functional resins to treat/
remove a specific water pollutant (Ex: Nitrates, arsenic, etc.) on demand.
3.3. Anti-bacterial and adsorption performance of carbon coating
The applicability of the modified design for the updated process
parameters (ex: flow rate and column length) are tested experimentally.
This involves finding the most appropriate number of hybrid carbon
layers/passes required for effective disinfection as well as adsorption.
The results showing the anti-bacterial performance of the developed
coating, tested with E. coli spiked water (106 CFU/ml) at a constant
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
Fig. 12. Effect of resin treatment on dissolved inorganic impurities in TDS (700) spiked water. (a) Performance of selective IX stage evaluated in terms of reduction in
total dissolved solids (primary axis) and filtration flux (secondary axis) with an increase in the column length varied by increasing the number of passes. (b) The
exhaustion time of IX stage for different column lengths characterized by the number of passes.
flowrate of 500 ml/h, is summarized in Fig. 13. The flow rate is chosen
based on the maximum FF after the IX stage. The results show that the
log reduction value (LRV) of the bacterial concentration is higher for
higher residence times. Four and ten-pass configurations have achieved
approximately 2.5 and 4.5 LRV, respectively. The reason for the lower
performance compared to our previous study [6] is due to the increased
value of the operating flowrate (390 to 500 ml/h), and a decrease in the
channel length (1.68 to 0.98 m), reducing the effective contact time
available for inactivation. Hence the number of passes required for
achieving 2 LRV is found to be higher (4-passes) for the present design.
However, with the wider channel widths (2 mm), the approximate
reduction in the FF is limited to 15 % of the input value for four pass
configuration.
The results of leeching tests from continuous flow experiments show
that the silver concentration in the treated water increased initially and
reached a stable value of
0.035 ± 0.01 mg/l when tested for 6 days of continuous operation.
This value is well within the WHO standards of 0.1 mg/l. When tested in
the long run (6 days) the developed coating (4 pass configuration) has
shown consistent anti-bacterial performance (2 LRV) by keeping the
Fig. 13. The log reduction value (LRV) of the microbial concentration was
examined for different residence times achieved by the increasing number
of passes.
11
Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
elemental Ag within permissible limits in the treated sample. With <5 %
wt reduction in the sliver content on the AC surface at the end of the long
run test suggests a very long sustaining anti-bacterial activity of the
developed coating.
The adsorption performance of the developed coating is majorly
dependent on the effective contact time. The results from the batch
mode study (Fig. 14) reveal a steep increase in both MB removal effi­
ciency and AC adsorption capacity with time and reaches a plateau. The
results show that (primary axis of Fig. 14(a)), >90 % removal efficiency
is achieved by 12 min of contact time. Similarly, at the equilibrium
conditions, the adsorption capacity from the batch mode study is found
to be 282 mg/g (secondary axis of Fig. 14(a)).
On the other hand, the results (Fig. 14(b)) from continuous flow
experiments show that the rate of adsorption is slower compared to
batch mode. Moreover, the maximum removal efficiency of MB is also
slightly lower than that observed in batch mode. This is due to the faster
diffusion of ions, assisted by mechanical agitation in batch mode,
compared to controlled diffusion during streamlined flow in mini
channels. The inset of Fig. 14(b) shows the reduction in MB concen­
tration scaled with initial concentration for multi-layered setups. A four-
pass configuration was able to achieve nearly 50 % concentration
reduction. Further, the long-term performance analysis (inset of Fig. 14
(b)) reveals 35 h and 84 h of service life for a four and ten-pass setup,
with Ci of 100 mg/l at 500 ml/h. After this, recharge/replacement is
needed. The results show that the adsorption performance of the
developed carbon coating is excellent in limiting the MB ions in the
treated samples. Though the anti-bacterial performance of the carbon
coating lasts for a very long time, the service life of the carbon stage for
effective adsorption is shorter, especially when the influent samples
contain high loading of organic contaminants. Based on the above ob­
servations, the hybrid carbon treatment stage with a four-layered stack
(increased or decreased as per requirement) is integrated into the
prototype.
These findings suggest that, in place of traditional carbon filters,
carbon-coated mini-channels offer a more cost-effective and energy-
intensive solution with similar adsorption and anti-bacterial perfor­
mance at a lower pressure drop.
3.4. UV disinfection stage
The inactivation efficiency of microbes using UV light disinfection
systems is mainly governed by the uniformity in UV irradiation and UV
fluence. The results showing the performance of the developed UV
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

Fig. 14. The effect of contact time on the adsorption performance of the developed hybrid carbon coating for methylene blue (MB) tested in both (a) batch mode and
(b) continuous flow mode. The inset plot shows the reduction in the methylene blue concentration (primary axis) and the exhaustion time of the carbon (secondary
axis) based on the number of passes through the coated channels connected vertically. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader
is referred to the web version of this article.)

reactor tested with E. coli spiked water (106 CFU/ml) are summarized in
Table 3
Fig. 15. Between the two configurations (differentiated by the reflective
Residence time of the UV system for the range of working distances and flow
inner walls), the results show that the disinfection performance is better
rates investigated.
with the one having a reflective inner lining (Fig. 15(a)) by achieving
complete inactivation (6 LRV) at a shorter time (60 s). For the same Max. F. F (ml/min) UV Chamber working depth, h1 (mm)

residence time, the one with no inner lining has lower anti-bacterial 8 10 12
performance (3.5 LRV). This is due to the reduction in the irradiation Residence time (s)
losses due to absorption and transmittance in the reactor with reflective
0.1 195 244 293
lining, which results in an increase in the uniformity of UV fluence. 0.18 114 143 171
Similar observations have been reported by previous researchers 0.26 78 97 117
[29–31] using UVC disinfection systems. 0.34 62 78 94
Here the degree of UV fluence a microorganism receives is directly
dependent on UV residence time. The residence time of water in the UV
where complete inactivation of cells is achieved within 60 s (approxi­
chambers is controlled by changing the height of the outlet enclosure,
mately) with an inactivation constant value, Kt = 0.099 s− 1. Hence the
h1. The approximate residence time of water for different h1, and
UV chamber with h1 = 10 mm is integrated to the prototype.
different influent flowrates (2, 3, 4, and 5 l gravitational head) is
calculated theoretically and summarized in Table 3. The residence time
for the UV chamber with h1 = 10 mm; h2 = 12 mm is about 78 s for the
3.5. Module-level multiplexed design
highest possible flow rate (900 ml/h), whereas the minimum residence
to achieve 6 LRV is found to be about 60 s for the same configuration.
The parallelized module (PM) has shown a promising effect in aug­
This was verified from the log inactivation data given in Fig. 15(b),
menting the filtration throughput by maintaining excellent filtration

Fig. 15. Performance of the UV disinfection stage. (a) Comparing the inactivation data of E. coli between UV chambers with and without reflective lining for the same
UV dose. (b) The death rate constant of the UV treatment stage with reflective inner lining.

12
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
efficacy. However, the resulting throughput is still low and can only
serve the drinking needs on a personal level (single-person use). Further
reduction in the throughput is expected with the integration of IX, AC
and UV stages. As an attempt to address this issue, parallelization
strategy is extended to the module level. Fig. 16(a) shows the full-scale
multiplexed prototype with multiple PC cartridges and UV reactors
fitted in robust, flexible outer housing. This arrangement results in the
massive parallelization of 512 UF’s, sixteen IX, and AC treatment stages,
and four UV reactors. With this level of parallelization, significant
augmentation in the filtration throughput is achieved (Fig. 16(b)). The
results show that the improvement in the filtration flux with module
level parallelization is nearly 1.05 ± 0.2 l/h and 3.4 ± 0.3 l/h achieved
at 2 l and 5 l heads, respectively. It is to be noted that the FF values
obtained here are after accounting for the hydraulic resistance offered
by the IX, AC, UV stages, and interconnecting pipe attachments. Further,
from the experiments, it is found that FF obtained at higher influent
heads (5 l) is higher than the estimate from direct extrapolation of the
throughputs at lower filtration heads (2 l). Hence, higher gravitational
heads are needed at higher levels of parallelization (like module level) to
increase the uniformity in the flow to all the modules, which enhances
the overall throughput. Despite massive parallelization, the filtration
efficiency of the device has shown no degradation, delivering clean
water free from particulates at the outlet. The % variation in turbidity
values of the filtered streams for all the synthetic samples tested has
shown >99 % turbidity reduction (on average, the filtered streams have
turbidity nearly 1 to 3 NTU).
The results summarizing the long-term filtration performance of the
final prototype are shown in Fig. 17(a) & (b). The filtration efficacy is
consistently maintained for the entire period of testing with >99 % of
particulate separation (secondary axis of Fig. 17(a)). However, an
exponential decrease in the FF is observed with time for both the sam­
ples tested. At the end of 6th day, the reduction in the FF reached nearly
15 % and 12 % for A12 and S1, respectively. However, this reduction is
very less to affect the performance of the device. Hence, the multiplexed
setup can effectively filter beyond the testing period maintaining a
similar filtration efficacy.
The cumulative of the total processed filtrate collected at the end of
the test for A12 and S1 is nearly 400 and 440 l (Fig. 17(b)). Further, the
service life of the filtration stage in multiplexed prototype (12 %
reduction in FF @ six days of operation) is higher than the PM (26 %
reduction in FF @ four days of operation). The results summarizing the
overall filtration performance of the final multiplexed prototype tested
by measuring four water quality parameters using a complete range of
synthetic (A), field (S), and flood water samples (F) are given in Table 4.
The results show that particle removal efficiency is consistently
Fig. 16. Augmentation in the filtration throughput by module level multiplexing. (a) Developed prototype by implementing module-level parallelization. (b)
Filtration throughput of the parallelized setup for 2 and 5 l heads.
13
Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
maintained for all the samples tested with >99.1 % reduction in
turbidity values processed at 5 l gravitational head. This suggests that
the developed prototype has effectively bypassed the particulate impu­
rities and delivered clean water at the outlet port. This can also be
realized from the high-resolution optical images taken for all samples
tested (Fig. 17(c)), showing visibly clean and particulate-free water
output collected at the outlet, whereas bypass streams are colored and
dirty. Next, the average filtration flux from the developed prototype at 5
l head is consistently maintained above 3 l/h for the entire range of
samples, where the maximum value is 3.53 ± 0.16 l/h obtained for
sample F5. It confirms the uniformity in the flow distribution across all
the UF’s with the developed parallelization strategy. From the results, it
is observed that the average FF (for a constant head) depends on the
particle concentration of the influent sample, where higher particle
concentration results in lower FF values. Also, the device has success­
fully limited the TDS levels (Table 4) in the raw water samples to nearly
40 to 50 % of its original value, keeping it within the acceptable range. It
is observed that the service life of the IX stage is strongly dependent on
the initial dissolved ions concentration. For all the samples tested, no
recharge/replacement of IX stage is necessitated during the test period
due to the lower concentration of influent ionic contaminants.
For the field and flood water samples, microbial activity in the
treated water is tested using point-of-use bacterial slides by dipping
them directly into the water sample. The total bacterial concentration
(TBC) in the raw water samples before and after processing through the
developed prototype is given in Fig. 18. The results show that the treated
water is completely free from microbes for all the samples tested. It is to
be noted that both anti-bacterial carbon coating and UV stage are
together responsible for achieving the sterilization effect. Besides pro­
ducing and maintaining excellent water quality parameters, the device
consistently maintains high filtration throughput, which satisfies the
communal scale requirements. No significant statistical differences (p >
0.05) were found in the filtration efficacy, filtration flux, dissolved solid
removal efficiency, and antimicrobial effectiveness among the synthetic,
field, and flood water samples.
The results shown here summarise the developed prototype’s oper­
ational ability, which accounts for the interdependency of the perfor­
mance parameters among all the stages integrated into the final device.
The adsorption performance of the developed carbon coating is
compared with other activated carbon materials made from different
precursors, as shown in Table 5. It is found that the equilibrium
adsorption capacity of the developed coating is comparable to or better
than the previously reported studies. Hence the developed hybrid car­
bon material is efficient adsorbent in removing organic contaminants
like MB dye.
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das
Fig. 17. Filtration performance of the final prototype (medium scale). (a) The long-term filtration performance of the prototype was tested in terms of efficacy and FF
for six days. (b) Cumulative filtrate was collected at the end of the 6th day. (c) High-resolution optical images of filtered and bypass streams for all the real-world
samples tested.
Similarly, upon comparing with the gravity-based POU devices in the
literature, the current development has shown better particulate
removal performance, filtration flux, and sterilization effect (Table 6)
than many established techniques available in the literature. Though
some of the gravity-based filters have shown higher filtration flux, but
the same is due to higher operating filtration heads, form factor, and
effective filtration area. Annan et al. [14] achieved an average FF of 4.5
l/h at a higher filtration head of 9 l, and Jhonston et al. [39] showed an
average FF of 6.5 l/h at a higher water column of 40–65 cm. Similarly,
the average filtration flux of the present device can also be augmented
by increasing filtration heads or by additional parallelization. It is to be
noted that, due to inconsistency in the testing procedures and the vari­
able influent water chemistry, it is difficult to establish a direct perfor­
mance comparison with previous devices.
The outcomes from the current study will help to efficiently design
parallelized filtration setups for increased throughput and long service
life. The current development can be a practical solution for supplying
safe drinking water at a communal scale during floods and in resource-
limited settings.
4. Conclusion
A medium-scale microfluidic-based filtration device is developed
with the help of a massive parallelization scheme for meeting the
potable water stress at a communal scale for emergencies like floods.
The device was tested with performance parameters acceptable for
14
Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280
drinking water standards.
• Filtration efficacy (> 99 % turbidity reduction) meeting the potable
water standards is achieved with optimized bypass (Lc/bp = 0.08)
port configuration.
• The rectangular design investigated supports a higher degree of
parallelization in the planar level and improves the uniformity in
influent distribution resulting in throughput enhancement (10.4 to
267 ml/h) with minimum head losses.
• Residence time or effective contact time plays a key role in
improving the performance of the IX, AC and UV treatment stages.
Higher influent contact/residence time in all three stages results in
better water quality.
• A substantial increase in the filtration throughput (267 ml/h to 3.4 l/
h) and service life (~ 12 % reduction @ 6 days) is achieved with the
proposed hybrid parallelization strategy at a module level, over­
coming the hydraulic losses from the distribution system and treat­
ment stages.
• The results of individual stages and final prototype conclude that
effective integration of filtration, adsorption and disinfection stages
is the key to developing energy-efficient and sustainable water pu­
rification systems.
The medium-scale filtration setup developed can be extremely
helpful during floods where a huge amount of greywater is available but
unqualified for drinking. The methodology discussed here will
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

Table 4
Overall performance of the developed prototype in terms of filtration and treatment ability for the entire range of samples tested.
Id n Turbidity (NTU) p Avg. FF @ 5 L (l/ p TDS (mg/l) p ABP (Log CFU/ml) p
h) (mean ± SD)
Before After (mean η Before After (mean Before After (mean
(mean ± SD) ± SD) (mean ± ± SD) (mean ± ± SD)
SD) SD)

A11 8 226.44 ± 3.2 ± 0.04 99.3 0.16NS 3.14 ± 0.15 0.31 179 ± 2.4 103 ± 1.1 0.38 5.5 ± 0.46a 0 0.18
NS NS
11.24
A12 20 353.64 ± 4.8 ± 0.12 99.3 3.15 ± 0.13 186 ± 2.1 113 ± 1.2 5.4 ± 0.52a 0
15.08
A21 8 165.45 ± 1.2 ± 0.06 99.2 3.36 ± 0.26 0.20 181 ± 3.6 112 ± 2 5.5 ± 0.46a 0
NS
15.08
a
A22 8 284.24 ± 1.4 ± 0.16 99.4 3.29 ± 0.17 189 ± 3.2 107 ± 1.4 5.7 ± 0.4 0
12.34
S1 12 125.65 ± 0.6 ± 0.02 99.2 0.21 3.51 ± 0.11 0.24 88 ± 5.2 59 ± 2.0 0.18 5.8 ± 0.44b 0 0.29
NS NS NS
9.46
S2 12 70.89 ± 4.86 0.6 ± 0.08 99.5 3.58 ± 0.1 81 ± 2.8 46 ± 1.2 3.1 ± 0.56b 0
S3 12 169.75 ± 1.0 ± 0.1 99.3 3.41 ± 0.18 224 ± 5.1 123 ± 2.6 5.9 ± 0.94b 0
8.42
S4 12 56.45 ± 8.08 0.2 ± 0.08 99.3 3.35 ± 0.16 86 ± 2.2 179 ± 1.2 4.1 ± 0.68b 0
S5 12 93.58 ± 8.92 0.4 ± 0.04 99.5 3.44 ± 0.18 242.5 ± 154 ± 3.7 4.2 ± 0.72b 0
14.8
F1 12 181.65 ± 1.0 ± 0.14 99.4 0.18 3.4 ± 0.21 0.21 256 ± 7.9 140 ± 8.2 0.22 4.0 ± 0.58b 0 0.24
NS NS NS
12.24
b
F2 12 139.45 ± 0.8 ± 0.04 99.4 3.36 ± 0.22 221 ± 11.4 134 ± 6.8 5.4 ± 0.42 0
6.08
F3 12 296.45 ± 0.6 ± 0.04 99.4 3.44 ± 0.15 286 ± 6.5 160 ± 5.2 4.9 ± 0.78b 0
15.08
F4 12 278.81 ± 2.2 ± 0.22 99.3 3.26 ± 0.19 312 ± 10.8 169 ± 9.2 5.0 ± 0.94b 0
12.86
F5 12 240.45 ± 1.0 ± 0.1 99.3 3.53 ± 0.16 156 ± 6.7 79 ± 2.2 3.8 ± 0.66b 0
7.08

id- Particle/sample id, n - number of samples, FF – Filtration flux, NS- non-significant differences are found with a significance level of 0.05, ABP is anti-bacterial
performance. a – E. coli, b- total bacterial count (TBC).

Fig. 18. Culture images are from the POU bacterial detection device showing the concentration of total pathogenic bacteria in the raw water samples and the samples
filtered and processed through the current device.

encourage future studies in developing self-sustained high throughput
and
energy-efficient POU water treatment solutions.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Gunipe Prasanth Kumar: Experimental and numerical in­
vestigations, Visualisation and Analysis, Data curation, Writing – orig­
inal draft.
Arup Kumar Das: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision,

15
G.P. Kumar and A.K. Das Journal of Water Process Engineering 56 (2023) 104280

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