Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods

In times of crisis, access to safe and clean water is critical for disaster response teams and affected communities. Water is essential for survival, particularly in the aftermath of disasters like floods. Ensuring sufficient quantities of potable water is a critical challenge in emergencies. This article explores on-site water treatment technologies, emphasising their role in enhancing emergency response. Point-of-use household-level techniques such as straining, sedimentation, filtration, boiling, and chlorine disinfection may be effective and sufficient for a family. However, portable or on-site water purification systems offer a more versatile alternative to cater to larger communities, as they can be customised with various treatment processes to address specific contaminants, making them suitable for camp or community-level responses. Additionally, emerging trends like advanced filtration and scalable on-site treatment units offer improved efficiency during crises. A laboratory prototype of an on-site water treatment system was demonstrated, showing the ability to meet emergency water quality standards. The prototype produced water with pH levels between 6.5 and 8.5, turbidity below 5 NTU, and residual chlorine up to 0.5 mg/L, meeting Sphere standards for emergency water supply.