Low-cost filtration system brings drinking water to poor areas in Mexico

The ceramic filter allows people to drink, store, transport and share clean water

Spotted: Indalecio Gaytan, an industrial design teacher at the University of San Luis Potosí, has created a water filtration system that incorporates a solid and bacteria/virus filter.

The project was created in order to find a solution to the lack of access to clean water in Mexico. La Rosita, a small community in San Luis Potosi was used as a case study.

“The main idea is to make this project possible and accessible to all populations, that is why this project is going to be open source including the compounds and receipts to develop the ceramic filter and the other components. Everybody deserves clean water,” said Gaytan. 

The low-cost ceramic filter, named “Vital”, combines terracotta, nopal, activated carbon and colloidal silver to avoid bacteria. The device works like a syringe, absorbing dirty water and filtering it up to 98 per cent. Vital can also be used to store and transport between 500 ml and 1000 ml of water.

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