Banana peel can purify water, say scientists

On banana skins, I think it will be good if this technology extends to the local people down here in our homes so that instead of throwing away the peels, we instead use them for purifying our water. Here in my country Uganda there are districts were people share the same ponds to feed their animals and for domestic use, so you find that people drink water with alot of toxic materials. Otherwise i'm so happy for this.

There are other traditional methods which are used in water purification.Moringa seed, stricnos potato rum seeds, ocimum sanctum leaves etc., People put water in a copper vessel overnight and drink it in the morning. Also bronze vessels are known to purify water. In Bangladesh three or four folds of silk cloth is used to filter impure water.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore (AP), India

Banana skins! Purification ,is an amazing innovation. Am sure many people will make use of this purification method.

I agree, it is good if people in our communities can benefit from such technology, but it will require first to be standardised. I have done research work on the potential of plants seeds(jackfruit,jambula and moringa) as water coagulants, the results obtained are also promising. Natural materials of plant and animal sources need to investigated as coagulants of water since they hold promise for our future. They are green technology, cheap, easy to use by any person and materials for use are locally available for communities. It would also be very interesting to check other water quality parameters of water treated with banana peels apart from metal ions.

Robert Natumanya
Makerere university

Aren't banana peels full of harmful pesticides? Banana pickers are known to have serious health problems resulting from them. I therefore suppose it's important to say that it's mandatory to use organic bananas for this process in order not to contaminate the water.

This is a breakthrough in the utilization of waste especially for Africa. I will be glad if this kind of research is publish in journal to pave way for more discoveries by other scientists in the world so that local people can make use of the technology.

This is very interesting and innovative use of banana skin for water purification. It should be standardized so that it can be used for domestic and industrial purposes. I had worked on the similar line during my research tenure using marine plants (seaweeds) powder to produce potabel water from the industrial waste and it had shown promising results. The process has been patented. Dr Vinod Dhargalkar, ex Scientist, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India.

I'm convinced of using banana peels for the purpose of water purification. It's cheap and natural, but still investigation is required with background knowledge. I'll put this technique on trials in drinking water to investigate its effectiveness against arsenic.

It's a very fantastic, cheap and innovative technology. But what about other water quality parameters particularly microbiological aspect. If these are also eliminated other than metals only then is it wonderful.

Dr. Gopal Krishna, Bharatpur, Nepal.

This is a very good idea. I think there may be a need to study different species of banana in order to carefully gain more insight into this promising and relatively affordable water purifier. The best method of maximising the benefit should also be explored as well.

This is an amazing innovation. Banana peels are found in many localities and this technique would easily be adopted by many people in the world. Keep up for the brilliant study. Muriira (Kenya)

This is good but why can they not give informtion about the heavy metals. How is it processed, can any one tell me? And is there any cheap filtering process available?

This is highly commendable because of its simplicity and efficacy. More research needs however to be done on its standardization.

This is by no small mesure a welcome development. Caution should however be exercised with respect to posible further contamition of water by secondary metabolites and mycotoxins from peels. We should also strive to know at what stage of ripening the peel is best effective.

It is a good inovation especially in Pakistan where there are lots of problems in drinking water... and also in Pakistan there is huge production of banana, so it will be economical, we'll hope that soon get a good news.

Can somebody please explain to me how to make it in my house? How do you make an "apparatus"? Thank you. :)

I want to try this at home!

This is real good news. Heavy metal pollution will soon be a thing of the past if it is established that the method has minimal side effects.

How do you dry the bananas?