As the waters in the flood-hit Kerala slowly recedes, and life limps back to normalcy, the people are faced with a problem- fresh drinking water.
Luckily, Gujarat has come to Kerala’s rescue with a bus.
A 40-feet long bus with water purification system on board is to be sent to Kerala. The purification system can clean up to 3000 litres of water in an hour.
Amitava Das, director at Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar in Gujarat, explained, “The CSMCRI, a laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), designed and developed this innovative water purification plant on wheels that is most suitable for mitigating acute drinking water problems during natural calamities.”
“The plant is appropriate to be deployed under societal mission projects and once again it is proving very useful. The power requirement for the operation of the plant to desalinate the water is derived from the engine of the bus, without any additional requirements. That’s because, during calamity, grid power supply is often unavailable. As apart from the driver, at least four persons are required to handle its operations, a team was dispatched to Kerala a few days ago,” the director added.
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The recent calamity in Kerala has left the state with contaminated wells, as well as extensive damage to most water treatment plants and electricity poles, rendering the infrastructure useless.
Dr Sanjay Patil, a senior scientist at CSMCRI said, “The indigenously developed bus works on the technology that can purify any kind of contaminated water including the silt-laden left by the floods, the brackish water along coastal areas and high TDS (total dissolved solids) water. It removes viruses and bacteria and makes it potable and fit for drinking through the RO (reverse osmosis) and ultra-filtration plant that it carries onboard.”
Patil, who is stationed at Parumala, a small village near Pannayannarkkav temple in Pathanamthitta Kadapara district, added, “The pumping station, which is the primary source of drinking water for thousands of people, has been in a mess. Our technology is making the water clean and pure and fit for consumption. The customised bus purifies more than 40,000 litres of drinking water per day and the water produced complies with WHO standards.”
BUS FEATURES
- The rooftop of the bus is fitted with renewable solar energy power panels. In the eventuality of the bus running out of diesel, the solar panels supplement power to the ultra-filtration plant.
- The bus, developed in 2008, was earlier deployed in West Bengal cyclone (2009), Odisha cyclone (2013), the Himalayan tsunami in Uttarakhand (2013) and Latur, Maharashtra drought (2014).
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