The potency of fern stem as the carbon material for clay-based ceramic filter

Abstract

Abstract The provision of clean water is still a very serious problem in some places. Many times, water is available in abundant quantities but the quality does not meet human needs. On the other hand, there is a lot of locally available raw materials available for producing ceramic filters which in turn can be used to produce clean water from polluted water. The wild and domesticated fern grows widely in Southeast Asia. The stem can be used as the carbon material for producing filters. This study aims to utilize the fern stem as indigenous material to produce an affordable, easy to use, robust clay base water filter for the less advantaged communities. Chopped fern stem mixed with clay in several compositions (50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% clay), shaped to produce 2 cm thick biscuits with 10 cm diameter, and dried for one week at room temperature and then fired at 9000C overnight. It was found that biscuits with 50% and 60% clay can be used as filters and filter with 50% clay produced filtrate with a better quality which meets the Indonesian standards for class two water which is water for drinking but not potable water. Therefore the fernstem is a potential raw material for ceramic filter production.