Engineering and characterization of gymnosperm sapwood toward enabling the design of water filtration devices

• Published in: Nature communications 2021-03, Vol.12 (1), p.1871-1871, Article 1871
• Main Authors: Ramchander, Krithika, Hegde, Megha, Antony, Anish Paul, Wang, Luda, Leith, Kendra, Smith, Amy, Karnik, Rohit
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/1005/190; 639/766/189; 706/134; Bacteriophages - isolation & purification; Biodegradability; Biodegradation; Cavitation; Cedrus - physiology; Coliforms; Contaminants; Design; Drinking water; Drinking Water - analysis; Drying; E coli; Engineering; Escherichia coli - isolation & purification; Fabrication; Fatalities; Filters; Filtration; Filtration - instrumentation; Filtration - methods; Flow resistance; Ginkgo biloba - physiology; Groundwater; Groundwater pollution; Guidelines; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Membranes; multidisciplinary; Pathogens; Phages; Pinus - physiology; Pollutant removal; Rotavirus; Rotavirus - isolation & purification; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Shelf life; Water filters; Water filtration; Water purification; Water Purification - instrumentation; Water Purification - methods; Water treatment; Xylem; Xylem - physiology
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22055-w

Naturally-occurring membranes in the xylem tissue of gymnosperm sapwood enable its use as an abundantly-available material to construct filters, with potential to facilitate access to safe drinking water in resource-constrained settings. However, the material’s behavior as a filter is poorly understood, and challenges such as short shelf life have not been addressed. Here, we characterize the operational attributes of xylem filters and show that the material exhibits a highly non-linear dependence of flow resistance on thickness upon drying, and a tendency for self-blocking. We develop guidelines for the design and fabrication of xylem filters, demonstrate gravity-operated filters with shelf life >2 years, and show that the filters can provide >3 log removal of E. coli , MS-2 phage, and rotavirus from synthetic test waters and coliform bacteria from contaminated spring, tap, and ground waters. Through interviews and workshops in India, we use a user-centric approach to design a prototype filtration device with daily- to weekly-replaceable xylem filters, and uncover indicators of social acceptance of xylem as a natural water filter. Our work enhances the understanding of xylem as a filtration material, and opens opportunities for engineering a diverse range of low-cost, biodegradable xylem-based filtration products on a global scale. Gymnosperm sapwood is an abundantly available material to construct water filters but the material’s behaviour as a filter is poorly understood and challenges such as short shelf live have not been addressed. Here, the authors develop guidelines for the design and fabrication of xylem filters and demonstrate gravity-operated filters with a shelf life of more than two years for the removal of contaminants from spring, tap and ground water.