What Are the Newest Technologies and Innovations in Water Filtration?

What Are the Latest Technological Advancements in Water Filtration Systems?

Humans have been filtering their drinking water for millennia, although modern filtration and disinfection methods didn’t appear until the early 1900s, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC.gov). The latest advances in water filtration go even further, and are even capable of turning wastewater and seawater into potable water.

Here are just three of the latest innovations in water filtration:

Desalination

Desalination is the process of removing salt from seawater so that it’s safe to drink. This method is especially important in areas with a limited water supply, including the Middle East and the American Southwest. For example, San Diego gets some of its tap water from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, supplementing its surface water sources.

Nanofiltration

Nanofiltration involves the use of a porous membrane to filter out tiny nanoparticles that can pass through other filters. By using carbon nanotubes and other advanced filtration technologies, nanofiltration is more effective than ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis at removing heavy metals and pathogens.

Wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment plants are used for purifying contaminated water so it’s safe to release into the environment, to use for irrigation, or even to drink. Singapore’s water reuse program, NEWater, is one of the most advanced, but similar water treatment systems are gaining in popularity around the world, including in the U.S.

How Are Nanotechnology Applications Improving Water Filtration Efficiency?

Water purification systems typically rely on one of three methods:

• Physical filtration uses a barrier such as a semi-permeable membrane to filter out sediments and other unwanted contaminants.
• Biological filtration is a method that uses living matter in the form of biofilm or biologically activated carbon (BAC) to break down organic compounds.
• Chemical filtration uses chemicals to purify and disinfect the water, but this can result in high concentrations of disinfection byproducts.

Nanotechnology is a form of physical filtration that uses a membrane with tiny pores to filter out pollutants and impurities that make it through other treatment processes.

Some types of nanotechnology overlap with biological and chemical filtration methods. For example, nanocatalysts can be used to drive an advanced oxidation process, while nanocelluloses are “nature-based sustainable biomaterials” that can be used to cause small particles to clump together, reducing the need for chemical coagulants.

How Are Advances in Membrane Technology Enhancing Water Purification Processes?

Advances in membrane technology enhance the water purification process by making it easier to remove certain categories of contaminants. Activated carbon filters are already effective at trapping chemical contaminants — including chlorine and other disinfection byproducts — due to a highly porous surface area that can absorb pollutants.

Innovations such as granular activated carbon (GAC) and biologically activated carbon (BAC) go one step further, removing micropollutants, which “absorb onto the activated carbon and can also be biodegraded, prolonging the filter lifetime.”

These new technologies have proven effective at removing forever chemicals (PFAS), as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are harmful to human health.

What Are the Benefits and Challenges of Using Graphene-Based Filters in Water Treatment?

Graphene is a carbon-based material that can be formed into a two-dimensional sheet “that happens to be the strongest material on Earth.” Graphene’s honeycomb structure is ideal for purifying freshwater, desalinating seawater, and treating wastewater.

The Argonne National Laboratory cites several benefits of graphene-based water filters, including reduced energy consumption. For example, when it comes to desalination, a graphene-based filter could use up to 75% less energy than reverse osmosis.

Graphene-based filters don’t need to be replaced as often. In fact, one research report proposes a “sustainable graphene-based water filter that can be regenerated [for up to three cycles] by treatment with hot (80 °C) water or vinegar (mild acid).”

However, there are several challenges to widespread adoption, the biggest of which is price. Graphene isn’t being produced at a large enough scale to make it cost-effective for water treatment plants, and its other use cases — including for energy storage — mean it will likely be in high demand for years to come.

What Role Do Smart Sensors and IoT Devices Play in Modern Water Filtration Systems?

Advanced filtration methods aren’t the only new technologies and innovations in water filtration that are having an impact. Smart sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) devices also can play a role in improving water quality and supporting water conservation.

Smart sensors improve water filter performance by monitoring information such as the flow rate and contaminant levels of your home water filter. They can alert you when it’s time to change your filter in order to ensure water quality and maximize its lifespan.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are appliances that connect to the internet, enabling you to schedule their operation and even control them remotely.

Together, these tools allow you to practice smart water management, whether you’re cooking with filtered water or irrigating your garden with rainwater. By collecting data using smart sensors, you can optimize your water use to reduce consumption.

How Is Artificial Intelligence Used to Optimize Water Filtration?

Artificial intelligence (AI) takes smart water management to the next level by applying even more advanced innovations to water filtration. AI solutions include:

• Predictive analytics, which uses real-time information to calculate your optimum filter replacement schedule, predict upcoming maintenance issues, and more
• Machine learning, which can be used to analyze water samples and recognize specific pollutants that traditional water testing technologies might miss
• Simulations, such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which can simulate how water will flow through a filter or water treatment plant

Artificial intelligence can help municipal water utilities reduce costs, monitor drinking water quality, and respond to contamination concerns in real-time — while providing more accurate and personalized information to consumers.

How Are Biodegradable and Eco-Friendly Materials Incorporated into Water Filter Design?

Drinking filtered water is generally more eco-friendly than drinking bottled water, but it can still generate some waste, such as used water filters and the plastic components that house them. Depending on how often you change your filter, this can add up.

The good news is that many water filters are made from eco-friendly or biodegradable materials. For example, coconut carbon is a renewable resource that’s used to make activated carbon filters, which can remove chlorine, VOCs, and pesticides.

Another thing to consider is how much energy your water filter uses. Reverse osmosis filters need electricity to pump water, but you can check your water pressure and flow rate to make sure it’s operating at the optimal rate.

Other options are gravity water filters that allow water to flow naturally through sand or carbon, and ceramic filters that are made of ceramic instead of plastic.

What Innovations Are Being Made in Portable Water Filtration?

Many of the innovations in water filtration are happening at water treatment plants, but portable water filters have seen some advances too. Portable water filters range from water filter pitchers to portable systems designed for RVs or off-grid use.

Some of the most important innovations in portable water filtration technology relate to disaster relief. One device developed at UT Austin uses a syringe to inject dirty water into a nanocellulose hydrogel film that can remove up to 100% of particles.

Water filter straws and water bottles are popular with hikers and campers, although it’s worth keeping in mind that they may not be designed to remove all contaminants. The best portable water filters can remove pathogens, as well as heavy metals and other contaminants that may be found in rivers and streams.

How Are Solar-Powered Water Filtration Systems Improving Access to Clean Water in Remote Areas?

Solar-powered water filtration systems also have a role to play in providing access to drinking water in remote areas and responding to natural and humanitarian disasters. UNICEF works with communities in Malaysia to install solar-powered water systems that are jointly owned and operated by the community.

These systems use solar panels to provide the power needed to pump water into a storage tank, which is then delivered to homes via a local distribution network.

Another approach uses solar vaporization technology, which can derive potable water from seawater and polluted freshwater sources. One such device “achieves over 95% removal of pollutants within 60 min under one-sun for practical application.”

What Are the Recent Breakthroughs in Desalination Technology for Providing Clean Water?

Advances in solar vaporization and other methods of desalination could revolutionize the way we think of salt water. According to MIT News, engineers have “developed a solar-powered device that avoids salt-clogging issues of other designs.”

A separate team is developing “smart DNA hydrogels” that can desalinate seawater using significantly less energy than existing reverse osmosis technology.

These innovations will go a long way toward addressing water scarcity on Earth — but the Canadian Space Agency has its sights set on an even bigger goal. The Aqualunar Challenge invites participants to submit their ideas for purifying lunar water that could support astronauts on upcoming missions to space.

Do You Need Advanced Water Filtration Technology at Home?

Some of the most significant advances in water filtration are expanding the capacity of water treatment plants to desalinate and purify water. These innovations may even be able to remove the most concerning contaminants, such as forever chemicals.

However, not all municipal water systems use the latest technologies, and installing a home water filter like the EZChange 2-Stage Under Counter Under Sink Water Filter can reduce contaminant levels and improve the taste of your water.

Enter your ZIP code to check out your local water quality report and find out how clean the water is in your neighborhood.