In recent years, ceramic water filters and biochar filters have been used for the removal of organic, inorganic and to a lesser extent microbial contaminants in aqueous systems. Ceramic water filters and biochar filters have many benefits that include ease of operation, cheap and environmentally friendly, making them drinking water treatment technologies of choice especially in poor communities. The fabrication of ceramic water filters and the production of biochars are summarized in this review, along with the research status in the removal of indicator pathogens (primarily Escherichia coli) from drinking water using ceramic water filters and biochars. The mechanisms by which the microbes are removed by both technologies are explained, the advantages of using the techniques in water purification are examined, the future development prospects of using ceramic water filters and biochar, and the potential use of a hybrid biochar-ceramic water filter system in microbe remediation. From 2006 to 2022, research on the elimination of indicator pathogens was examined, with a focus on the application of different types of biochar (pristine or modified) and pot-shaped ceramic water filters. While the developing world has been slow to adopt low-cost filters for point-of-use water treatment in households against a backdrop of waterborne disease outbreaks in the poor countries due to lack of access to clean and safe water, the majority of research on both filters’ ability to remove pathogens has been concentrated in the developed world.
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