Water purifier removes arsenic - Fusion - WeRIndia

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras developed a nano technology based water purifier back in 2013. The purifier is useful in providing safe drinking water at a cheap price. It can filter microbial and chemical impurities. The purifier has especially helped in the arsenic contamination problem which led to many health problems. In West Bengal, the purifier is already being used in many places. With the help of this invention more than four lac people are able to access arsenic free water at just 5 paise per liter.

Now, thanks to the decision by Union Ministry of Drinking water and Sanitation, the purifier has been recommended to be replicated and used in all states that are affected by arsenic contamination. The ministry asked various state governments to visit the arsenic removal plant in Nadia district of West Bengal. IIT-M has been notified of this information and they are asked to replicate this purifier with the help of the funds from National Rural Drinking Water Programme. If arsenic in drinking water is not removed, it can cause skin lesions, lung, bladder and skin cancer, and may lead to kidney and liver cancer too.

The purifier has been created by the research team headed by Professor Thalappil Pradeep from the department of Chemistry. It is called AMRIT – Arsenic and Metal Removal through Indian Technology. Its innovative technology does not require electricity or piped water supply. In order to purify water, it only needs gravity. With the help of iron oxyhydroxide (a nanostructured material), the purifier can selectively remove arsenic when water is passed through it.

There are two stages for the purification process. In the first stage, the microbial impurities in the water are removed using small concentration of silver ions from silver nanoparticles. In the second stage, chemical impurities like arsenic, lead, iron etc. are removed.

Image Reference: TheBetterIndia