Inclined plate settling for emergency water treatment

Adequate water supply is a public health intervention aimed at preventing diarrhoeal diseases in relief operations. Based on humanitarian water treatment objectives in which supplied water quantities should be prioritised (whilst safeguarding minimum quality standards) an inclined plate settler (IPS) was tested. Preliminary testing revealed that the IPS was capable of stable turbidity reductions at several tested conditions, but further optimisation was required to reach the treatment objectives with regards to turbidity reductions (i.e. 5 NTU). The simplicity and relative low-cost of manufacturing makes this process a potentially cost-effective solution for emergency water treatment.