An Unusual Technique: Use Fruit Peel To Purify Water

Sevelx | February 15, 2016 | Food, Survival, Water

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Whether it is due to drought, pollution, lack of conservation efforts or simply a burgeoning population, the scarcity of clean drinking water is a looming problem for our country and for our world.

According to The Water Project website, one in nine people in the world currently does not have access to safe drinking water. In addition, as much as 80 percent of illnesses in developing countries are linked to unsanitary water conditions. Some experts estimate that by 2050 there will simply not be enough fresh water to sustain the world’s expected 9.1 billion population.

These numbers do not even consider the shortages of clean water that can result from natural disasters or other calamities that would limit an otherwise functioning water supply system. Nor do they take into account that deteriorating city infrastructures are delivering contaminated water to many people throughout the world, including the United States.

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Apple and Tomato Peels

Mallampati’s study found that peels from apples and tomatoes work like sponges in contaminated water, absorbing and thereby reducing levels of metals, pesticides and dyes.

The peels of eight tomatoes were able to remove several different contaminants found in one liter of water within one hour. These contaminants included heavy metal ions (such as lead), dissolved organic and inorganic chemicals, pesticides and dyes.

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Banana Peels

Banana peels also can help purify water. In a separate 2011 study conducted at the Bioscience Institute in Botucatu, Brazil, researchers found that banana peels removed lead and copper from river water.

How does it work? Banana peels contain nitrogen, sulfur and carboxylic acids. These acids can bind with polluting metals in the water.

In an article published on Scidev.net, Dimitris Kalderis, a wastewater treatment expert at the Technical University of Crete, wrote: “The results are very promising, and the banana peel process has proven to be a cost-effective and quick alternative to conventional methods … I think that a small automated system to use either at home or at a central point for multiple families could be developed. The knowledge is there, what we need right now is innovation and construction.”

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