Sinor Ali 
University of New Hampshire
Major: Civil Engineering
Mentor: Dr. M. Robin Collins, UNH Department of Civil Engineering
Safe and Clean Water through Intermittent Slow Sand Filtration using BioSand Filters
More than a billion people in the developing world lack access to a safe and reliable source of drinking water. The BioSand filter is a household water treatment technology that allows people to improve the quality of their water by treating it in their homes. This is a household scale, intermittently operated slow sand filter (ISSF). BioSand filters that are challenged with Escherichia coli (E. coli) have demonstrated good average removal levels of 94-99% (WHO, 2000). However, the lowest removals were observed when the void volume exceeded the design of the ISSF. The overall removals of the ISSF are typically lower than observed in conventional slow sand filtration (SSF). Further study is needed to determine design and operational factors contributing to microbial reductions in BioSand filters.
