Adapting Fly Ash to Purify Lake Water
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
Shashank Javgal, Vijeth, Avinash and Nithin Kumar — have come up with an innovative method to clean up Bellandur lake, whose noxious fumes have sparked flames in recent months
They say their method separates pollutants from water, oxidizes them, and lets them out in a place far away from human habitation.
Their project won the first place in the Ideas for India 2015 competition organised by an NGO called Universe Health, Education and Environment Trust.
The experiment was done at the CMR Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Prof B Narasimha Murthy and Dr Phani Kumar Pullela.
It all started with the curiosity of Nithin Kumar. While discussing carbon nanotubes in class, he asked Pullela how the polluted lake could be cleared.
Pullela explained the process: “Mix the water with fly ash in a beaker. Filter it through a mesh. Pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, detergent, and
industrial and domestic waste remain behind as a powder. Take them to a faraway location. Perform an advanced chemical oxidation process, which is the mixing of waste with hydrogen peroxide. The pollutants are oxidised into gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Let out the gases.”
This moved Nithin to action. The same day, he went to Bellandur and collected a sample of the polluted water. He came back and conducted the chemical oxidation process in the college lab, with the help of fly ash stored from previous projects.
When university exams were postponed, Pullela wanted to give his students special projects to work on. He asked them to prepare for the Ideas for India competition.
To confirm their findings, the group sent them to Robust Pvt Ltd, a Pollution Control Board-certified laboratory, and the only one to test Maggi noodles during the ban. The reports came back saying the cleaned-up water was of ‘canal quality.’
Why is this method different? “Fly ash spills in water have always been considered dangerous. But we want to make use of such waste,” Pullela said.
His group is researching on how to make better use of fly ash for water purification.
The group has sent a grant proposal to the Vision Group on Science and Technology, set up by the government. So far, the project costs Rs 24,000. “But we need Rs 1.5 crore for further research,” Pullela said.
Source: New Indian Express
Read More Related Content On This Topic - Click Here
Media
Taxonomy
- Purification
- Lake Management
- Filtration