My working escapades once-upon-a-time took me to northen Kenya.
The rugged, semi desert landscape I had pictured in my mind was suddenly made real before my very eyes.
I always felt some unique love for camel pastoralists and here I had a front seat opportunity to connect with them.
Of course tending after livestock comes with its fair share of responsibilities and water provision might be the most key.
WATER
Some of the landscape in the North is dotted with boreholes, wells and water pans.
But of course this is not the norm since water is a very scarce commodity in these parts of the world.
But where its found, its a blessing irrespective of the impurities in it.
Due to the high evaporation and presence of calcium rocks in the water table its no surprise encountering hard water in these regions.
I remember sitting in a restaurant which had a water dispenser doubling up as a water softening filter.
It had outlived its lifespan and at this point it was more of a show than a real filter.
Besides, for many up north, the inconvenience of hardwater is nothing compared to the lack of it altogether.
Many have acquired a taste for hard water since its the one readily available.
So I kept asking myself whether there is a need for a water filter here?
Probably it might serve a purpose among the privileged urbanites desiring to quench their thirst with ‘sweeter’ water.
POINT-OF-USE WATER FILTER
A point-of-use water filter is just as the name states…one that is used to filter water at the point of drinking.
It uses filter material that is able to remove unwanted pollutants that could harm our health.
These may include pesticides, metals , fluoride, microorganisms etc.
There are a wide range of filters being sold in the market from the simple ones that function also as a dispenser to the more complex ones which require technical assistance to fix.
Many of these filters are used for water softening and disinfection.
Though they have played their rightful role in delivering sparkling clean water to our tumblers, an emerging brand of pollutants are rendering their use ineffective.
PHARMACEUTICALS
I know… I know…
These are not things you would expect find in our drinking water…
Tap water to be precise.
But pharmaceuticals and their byproducts are gaining notoriety as emerging contaminants in our drinking water.
Part of the problem due to poor disposal of human waste, irresponsible behaviour in industry and in the heathcare systems etc.
Intake of pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics through drinking water might expose many to antibiotic resistance – the ability of disease-causing agents to become resistant to antibiotic treatment.
But some pharmaceuticals are associated with another brand of pollutants that is increasingly becoming wide spread.
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS
These are mostly chemicals released from industry or industrial products we use at home.
They are known to interfere with the hormonal system
They are suspected to give rise to some lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and even cancer.
Water sources found near industrial zones are bound to be polluted by a significant level of endocrine disruptors if checks and balances are not put into place.
But besides these, another more concerning group of pollutants have the potential to make our drinking water even riskier.
FOREVER CHEMICALS
These are a bunch of chemicals also found in industry and in industrial products which take time to degrade (so the name ‘forever’).
Their effects are suspected to be more or less like those of endocrine disuruptors even though their link to cancer is stronger.
WATER TREATMENT
Remember that water treatment plants in even the most progressive nations might not have a way of removing these sophisticated pollutants.
Also, some of these pollutants occur in specific regions and not others.
Therefore municipal water treatment plants might not give them a priority.
Therefore the point-of-use water filter might possibly become more significant in the near future.
Innovators have an opportunity to research on and design filters with materials that are able to remove these stubborn pollutants because their levels will increase substantially as industries flourish.
There are opportunities in developing products such as drinking water bottles with straw filters, water dispensers with fitted filters, water jugs with fitted filters or even filters used to treat industrial effluent.
IN CONCLUSION
Over time, the informed consumer will demand such products due to increase in lifestyle diseases.
Indeed even today, some communities can’t get access to filters which remove pollutants such as fluoride.
So this is an area of interest to anyone who is not only interested in delivering water but quality water to households.
So there’s a point in using the point-of-use filter domestically.
Examples of startups in this regard:
Cleannovate 