Deep within TU Delft’s Waterlab there is a small room that contains a powerful laser. This is where Amir Haidari spent many long days researching better ways to filter water.
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The PhD student currently works at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences and is in the writing phase of a project titled One Step Membrane Filtration. During his over four years of research, Haidari sometimes found himself in the middle of ten hour stretches in the lab’s laser room. Using a setup that included a double pulse laser and a high-speed camera capable of rapidly taking photos within fractions of a second of one another, he examined a particular type of membrane and its ability to remove drug residue, industrial waste and other pollutants from water.
Safe and clean water is in short supply in many corners of the globe. According to a 2015 report from the World Health Organisation, over 1.8 billion people rely on drinking water from sources impacted by fecal contaminants and additional types of pollution. By 2025, half of the planet’s population could be living in regions deemed ‘water stressed.’
Improving water filtration could alleviate many of these concerns. As it stands, some pollution particles are too tiny to be filtered by conventional purification methods. The membranes used in filters often become quickly clogged as well. Haidari examined a membrane that relies on the principle of reverse osmosis. Due to its relatively low cost to produce, it could prove very beneficial in areas with water problems. Another advantage is that it’s great at converting salt water into potable water, which isn’t currently possible in conventional water treatment plants.
“We want to keep this as cheap as possible so that everybody can use it,” Haidari said. “It has all kinds of advantages. One of the reasons why I’m doing this research is because I come from a country where many people have to use unclean groundwater unlike here in the Netherlands where there’s all kinds of facilities to treat water.”
His experiments involved measuring the velocity and pressure of water as it hit the membrane in order to determine the most efficient method of filtration. He also tried filters with different sized spacers within them to see which worked best.
Adjusting these factors could lead to the optimal configuration of filters for different types of water from polluted rivers, canals and other sources. This could make creating safe drinking water much easier and less costly. It may also prove beneficial in filtration systems used in agriculture, power production and other industries.
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