Universal access to safe drinking water is a challenge to the scientific community, in which the responsibility is incumbent on developing appropriate technologies.
In general the water infrastructure is well developed in urban areas, in contrast to rural areas where the infrastructure is either poorly developed or nonexistent. Accordingly, rural populations have the most urgent need for safe drinking water.
Therefore, efficient but affordable technologies are needed as the communities in need – e.g. small municipalities and villages – are characterised by their low income.
This review by Indian researchers summarises all the methods reported in the literature for the removal of iron from groundwater for water purification, such as electro-coagulation, oxidation, ion-exchange, ultrafiltration etc.
Various technologies for safe drinking water provision are available, but they are either cost-intensive or not applicable without electricity. Accordingly, suitable technology should use low-cost materials which are readily available and match or exceed the capability of conventional water treatment technologies.
On the basis of the literature search and several experimental results, the authors conclude that the oxidation/filtration method is the most suitable for rural areas.
