Researchers create GO-based system for purifying river water

Researchers from India’s Haldia Institute of Technology have created a gravity filter using graphene oxide (GO), meant for purifying river water. Using alternative water resources like river water can help address the rising shortage of freshwater resources worldwide. Therefore, the deployment of cost-effective water filtration technologies is imperative for the desalination of river water and purification of polluted water.

Filtration using a gravity filter is a highly popular method for water purification. A gravity filter is a type of pressure filter wherein water passes through the filtering component on the influent side at atmospheric pressure and the whole system is driven by the force of gravity instead of electricity. A major benefit of gravity filters is that they are free from moving components, therefore require less filter maintenance. Another significant advantage of using a gravity-based water filtration system is that the system does not need a power supply. The main drawback, on the other hand, is the low output of purified water. The limitations of filtering technology imply that no one filtration material can remove all pollutants present in water.