Abstract
Water is the most basic important substance on earth. Every human being is fully dependent on water to survive, eat and live healthy. Many people from developing countries are struggling daily to have access to potable water to sustain their lives. Poor people from rural areas are walking long distances and spend money on water transportation just to have access to potable water. People who can’t walk long distances and can’t afford to pay for transportation of water, have to share river water, dams, or ponds with animals. In rural areas, most communities are using the river water for different reasons such as bathing their human bodies or swimming and washing their livestock, while others use the same river water for drinking without purification. Consumption of this water causes the outbreak of waterborne disease. Illness from water-related disease and bacteria is a common problem in developing countries and it accounts for approximately 2.2 million deaths per year globally.
Therefore, the evaluation of existing water purification technologies is considered to find a cost-effective and environmental-friendly system. As many developing countries are still facing a shortage of power supply from electrical grids, renewable energy sources are considered and analyzed. Raw water was collected from one of the rural villages. Water analysis was performed in the laboratory to determine how many contaminants are present in raw water. Raw water samples were collected from Dumezulu village.
In this work, the development of a water purifier system was described. The Reverse Osmosis (RO) method has been adopted to reduce the high concentration of contaminants and meet the SANS 241: 2015 standards. Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells have been selected to generate electricity for the RO method. This system comprises solar PV cells, structural mounting frame, centrifugal and vertical water pumps, activated carbon and sand filters, micron filter, RO membrane filters, flywheel energy storage, electrical DB board, chemical dosing pump, water distribution piping, and instrumentation. Solar PV cells are designed to produce 5-10 kW energy and utilize Monocrystalline solar panels, hybrid inventor, PV combine box, mounting structures, and accessories.