International collaboration to implement the scalable and affordable fluoride removal (SAFR) process in East Africa

Globally, 200 million people are at risk of developing fluorosis from drinking groundwater contaminated with high fluoride concentrations exceeding the WHO’s maximum permissible limit. Although many defluoridation technologies have been demonstrated to work effectively in lab (e.g., activated alumina, reverse osmosis, and bone char), most are inappropriate for use in resource-constrained regions because they are cost-prohibitive, culturally inappropriate, difficult to scale, or require skilled labor for operation and maintenance. We propose the use of bauxite, an aluminum-rich ore, as a potentially inexpensive, effective, and scalable defluoridation technology. Based on our group’s earlier experimental research characterizing globally diverse bauxite ores, elucidating fluoride removal mechanisms, and establishing proof of concept that bauxite can cost-effectively remediate field-relevant fluoride concentrations, here we discuss the translation of our Scalable and Affordable Fluoride Removal (SAFR) process to a field demonstration plant in Kibera, Kenya.