Multi-Stage Filtration

Luis Darío Sánchez, Arlex Sánchez, Gerardo Galvis and Jorge Latorre (2006)

Multi-Stage Filtration (MSF) is an integrated solution for improving community water supply in rural and peri-urban areas. It uses a combination of coarse gravel filtration (CGF) and slow sand filtration (SSF), with two or three separate stages in the cleaning of the water.

This Thematic Overview Paper (TOP) provides the basis for sector professionals to become aware of MSF technology and to learn more about it. It examines why MSF is a viable technological option and explains its advantages and disadvantages.

This TOP allows policy makers and lay people to understand the important principles of MSF, and gives sufficient detail to meet the information needs of specialists and water engineers. It looks at the technology, the processes taking place beneath the surface, cost issues, research, and the importance of achieving access to safe water. It also presents some compelling case studies of the technology in action.

You can download the whole document as a PDF or first browse through the web summaries of the eight chapters below (written by Peter McIntyre).

- Download:

TOP15_MFS_06.pdf (1.5 MB)

- Series:

Thematic Overview Paper 15, 62 p.