Seeds to Purify Water

Seeds to Purify Water

By Dr Arvind Kumar

About 1.1 billion people globally do not have access to drinking water and diarrhoea remains the leading cause of illness and death. With the number of people without access to safe water expected to rise to two billion by 2025, the ability to purify water using accessible techniques has significant life-saving potential. According to Micheal Lea, author and researcher with Clearinghouse, an Ottawa-based organization researching low-cost water purification technologies, one solution to the water woes of many of the world’s poor may lie in the pea-sized seeds of the widely grown Moringa oleifera tree. In Lea’s opinion, the Moringa oleifera [seed technique] can be an important, sustainable and affordable method towards waterborne disease reduction and can improve the quality of life for a large proportion of the poor.

According to Lea, seeds from the Moringa, a tree (also described as a shrub) which grows in Africa, Central and South America, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, can be crushed into a powder and mixed with surface water to produce a 90-99 percent bacterial reduction, making untreated water safely drinkable. The technique is not new. Communities in Sudan have been using the multi-purpose Moringa tree as a source of food and as a water purifier for centuries. However, Kebreab Ghebremichael, a water purification expert with the UNESCO’s Institute for Water Education, says while the technique has potential, it would be best used at the household level. Further research in this regard is called for.