Effective and affordable water purification technologies for rural development

Conventional methods of water purification in rural areas include boiling, filtration, sedimentation, aeration, solar, and chemical disinfection. These methods suffer from issues like the inability to achieve the desired level of purification and demand. This chapter provides an overview of conventional methods used for water purification in rural areas. Further, it discusses various low-cost, sustainable water purification solutions including coagulation, precipitation by natural agents, desalination, distillation, bioremediation, and bio-adsorption. These methods can be used to accomplish Sustainable Development Goal 6 which ensures the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. Other technologically advanced methods namely reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, advanced oxidation, membrane filtration, and nanotechnology-based approaches have been included in the discussion. The limitation and advantages of the water purification methods have been critically evaluated. Sustainable adsorbents (like biochar) prepared using cheap and abundantly available lignocellulosic biomasses like agricultural residues, household wastes and industrial wastes can be proven most facile, and economically feasible solutions for water purification.