Dataset for: Cactus Mucilage as an Emergency Response Biomaterial to Provide Clean Drinking Water

This study investigates separation based on cactus mucilage as an emergency response biomaterial to provide clean drinking water for communities affected by natural disasters. The mucilage is extracted from the Opuntia ficus-indica cactus, commonly known as nopal or prickly pear. Samples of tap water (from a treatment center), well water, and distributed water from a tanker truck were collected from 4 different locations at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A wide-range analysis of elements was performed on acidified samples to determine the water quality and type of contamination. Water samples were treated with gelling and non-gelling mucilage extracts. This dataset reports trace metal and ion concentrations for water samples collected in Haiti both before and after treatment with 10 mg/L gelling and 10 mg/L non-gelling mucilage extract.