A simple-effective forward osmosis filter water bag designed for producing drinking water during an emergency

Abstract

A simple yet effective forward osmosis (FO) water filter bag was designed and tested to produce drinking water from flood water for emergency use. The FO water filter bag operates on the FO process, using flood water as the feed solution and a mixture of sucrose, oresol, and food-grade soda as the draw solution. Experimental results demonstrated that the FO water filter bag, using a mixed draw solution of 6 M sucrose + 2 g oresol + 16 g/l soda, achieved the highest average water flux of 0.68 l/m2/hours (LMH) during a 5-hour operation. Furthermore, the water produced by the FO water filter bag was of high quality, with removal rates of 98.5, 97.6, and 100% for turbidity, iron, and E. coli, respectively. After a 12-hour operation with real flood water as the feed, the FO water filter bag produced 588 ml of water that met both World Health Organisation (WHO) quality standards and Vietnamese technical regulations for drinking water. More importantly, the FO water filter bag exhibited minimal membrane fouling, allowing for reuse and supporting the provision of drinking water in flood and emergency situations.