Nanoparticles in household level water treatment

Abstract

Providing safe drinking water is a great challenge for both the developing and the developed world. Increasing demand and source water quality deterioration has led to the exploration of new technological innovations for better water management. Nanotechnology holds great promise in ensuring safe drinking water through designing innovative centralised and decentralised (household-level) water treatment systems. The paper provides an overview of recent advances in nanotechnologies for (household level) water treatment processes, such as its use as nanoadsorbents, photocatalysts, microbial disinfectants and in membranes. Extensive implementation of nanotechnology for water treatment would require overcoming the high cost of the nanomaterials by enabling their reuse and regeneration. This would also ensure minimising potential environmental exposure. Potential advances in nanotechnology must go hand in hand with environmental health to alleviate any undesirable consequences to humans.