Report by Swasti Sharma
IIT Kanpur and MIT USA have been granted a joint Indian patent (joint invention) for the invention of a water purification device.
The invention labelled “A Vessel and A Method for Purifying Water and Monitoring Quality of Water” is a low cost device to check water quality and purify water.
Dr. Indra Sekhar Sen from the Department of Earth Sciences at IIT Kanpur, and Mr. K Sri Harsha (Founder, Kritsnam Technologies) collaborated with inventors Emily Barret Hanhauser (Fellow, MIT Tata Centre), Dr. Rohit N. Karnik (Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Associate Department Head for Education; Tata Professor, MIT, USA), Anastasios John Hart (Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT, USA), Michael Bono (Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Tata Centre), and Chintan H. Vaishnav (Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management, MIT, USA), for this project.
What is the problem being solved?
The availability of clean drinking water is one of the major issues that the world is facing recently.
All the sources of water systems have been found to contain trace contaminants (microorganisms/ impurities that can enter the food system) that are associated with a range of harmful substances (chronics). This can leads to incurable health conditions, including cancers, liver and kidney damage, as well as environmental damage.
So, the increase of these pollutants is of concern.
To find the solution of these problems, the team from IIT Kanpur and MIT, USA have developed the device.
The main purpose is to overcome the challenges in both water availability and water quality monitoring, by creating a water purification vessel technology that not only provides clean water but is also cost-effective and allows for widespread monitoring of impurities.
How does this device work?
The purification vessel contains a regenerable (the material that can be regenerated) absorbent material (that can absorb and adsorb the liquids and gases) capable of putting the impurities together and preserving it in a moist or dry surrounding. This action leads to inorganic contaminant-free water at a very low cost – only 2 Rs/litre.
The purified water can be obtained without power and it does not leave any residual wastewater, because all the impurities are bound together.
The device is capable of both purification and measurement by a single channel which no other system is capable of. That is the uniqueness and novelty of this device. (Patents are usually granted for new innovations).
The vessel could be used in monitoring and purification of other liquids for human consumption too, such as dairy products, soft drinks, or other digestible liquids.