With the COVID-19 virus spreading in all parts of the world, the usage of disinfectant wipes has exponentially increased. The active ingredients in the wipes include alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (C12, C14, C16), all of which might have negative environmental impacts once released into the aquatic systems. The objective of this research was to test if agricultural waste material-fused filter papers can be used to filter out water contaminated with the disinfectant compounds listed above. Agricultural organic byproducts such as corn husks were incorporated with filter paper into homemade filter papers. Using a homemade filtering kit, samples were collected to be conducted in multiple trials. It was found that the amount of corn husk present in the filter paper correlates with the filtering efficiency. Approximately 70% of contaminants were removed with filter paper consisting of 48% corn husks. It is more than 15 times efficient than that of without corn husks. Many parts of the world do not have access to clean water nor the ability to afford the cost of clean water resources. Using low cost agricultural waste and recycling it to filter contaminated water can be a sustainable method to improve human health and the Earth’s environment.

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