Integrating Navajo Pottery Techniques To Improve Silver Nanoparticle-Enabled Ceramic Water Filters for Disinfection

Point-of-use treatment technologies can increase access to safe drinking water in rural areas. Sustained use of these technologies is uncommon due to oversight of community needs, user-perceived risks, long-term maintenance, and conflict with traditional practices. Nanosilver-enabled ceramic water filters are unique due to the use of locally sourced materials available at or near the target community; however, technical limitations persist (e.g., nanosilver’s uncontrolled release and passivation from sulfide or chloride). This work aims to overcome these limitations by impregnating nanosilver onto ceramics with a Navajo pottery rosin, collected from pinyon trees with a third-generation artisan. Here, we investigate this sustainable and novel material for drinking water treatment; the study ranges from a proof of concept to testing under realistic conditions. Results show that when embedded in a thin film, the biopolymer controlled ionic silver dissolution and prevented silver passivation from sulfide and chloride. When applied to ceramic filters, the biopolymer effectively immobilized nanosilver in a range of waters. Over a 25 day study to emulate household-use conditions, this coating method sustained disinfection of a coculture of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria while controlling biofouling. Overall, the use of this Navajo pottery material can facilitate adoption while providing the needed technological advancement to these widely used treatment devices.