Sand Filtration Performance as a Nature-based Approach for Water Treatment

Today, healthy drinking water has become an important problem in many countries around the world. Therefore, the United Nations considers attention to this issue a necessity for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Although, currently, various physical, chemical, and biological methods are used to purify water in many parts of the world, however, the use of easy, cheap, and efficient methods has a special priority in developing countries. Today, one of the most efficient and cheapest methods to achieve high-quality water is to promote the use of slow sand filters (SSF), which have been developed in a way inspired by nature. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the different aspects of using this method and its efficiency in water purification. The literature review showed that designing simple, low-cost, and effective sand filtration systems, especially in rural areas without access to advanced water purification equipment, is a key challenge. Given this information, sand filtration can be used as a nature-based approach for water purification in various countries, especially developing and less developed countries.