Peter Chartrand/Potters for Peace

The Ceramic Water Filter provides households with safe drinking water and promotes community-based cottage industry. As water passes through the filter, most bacteria are too large to follow through its tiny clay pores. Any bacteria and fungi that do make it through the clay are eliminated by the ionic colloid state of the filter’s silver coating. Each filter can purify nearly one to 1.8 quarts (1.75 L) of safe drinking water an hour, easily filling up a five-gallon (20-L) dispenser, enough to meet a household’s daily drinking-water needs.

In October 1998 Hurricane Mitch tore through Central America. One of the most destructive hurricanes ever recorded, it left millions of people without access to safe water. In response Potters for Peace launched an effort to mass produce and distribute the filter in areas affected by the hurricane.

Since then Potters for Peace has continued to team with local partners and groups throughout Central America as well as in Vietnam and Kenya to establish production facilities and provide training in the filter’s manufacture. Using local clay, sawdust, and 10 cents worth of colloidal silver per filter, one press mold can produce 50 filters per day.