The Hindu 29.10.2010
Remedy for water contamination
Swathi.V
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Anantapur innovator develops solar water purifier |
What an idea:Vemula Lakshmi Narayana from Tadipatri with his invention.
HYDERABAD: Despite the extravagance of dollars in millions through
Public-Private Partnerships, one problem that remains from resolution in
the third world countries is water contamination and the spread of
disease thereof.
If Raqxa, a contrivance by Vemula Lakshmimnarayana(Ph: 9848391922)
from Tadipatri town of Anantapur District, gains recognition and
commercial production, people from rural India can hope to get potable
water at nominal cost.
The ‘Solar Water Purifier with Integrated Storage and Automatic
Supply’ as mentioned by its architect in his patent application, is one
among the 52 projects shortlisted for the ‘India Innovation Initiative–
i3 National Fair’ being organised in the national capital on November
22 by the Confederation of Indian Industries, together with Department
of Science and Technology and Agilent Technologies.
Raqxa competed with 850 entries from all over India, and what makes
it special is the innovator’s non-technical educational background. For
Mr. Lakshmimnarayana, a postgraduate in literature, innovation has been
the second nature and Raqxa, the acme of it. He earlier designed a
perpetual calendar, a rat-trap, and a solar water heating system.
“Safe drinking water is one challenge faced by many countries in the
world. According to a World Bank report, 10,000 people die every day due
to water and excreta related diseases. My storage and supply system can
assure continuous supply of disinfected drinking water by removing
pathogenic micro-organisms through solar radiation,” assures Mr.
Lakshminarayana.
Raqxa in fact uses the SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection) treatment
approved by the World Health Organisation for affordable safe drinking
water in small quantities by households. The method aims to treat water
through solar radiation and involves filling water in Pet bottles and
exposing them to the sun for five hours on a bright day or two days
under cloudy sky.
In his device, Lakshminarayana used a number of glass purification cells to contain water for exposure upto 20 hours.
These will be fixed to a solar panel and kept at a suitable angle on
the terrace. Untreated water will be pumped up from a water tank/can in
the house, kept at a level higher than the discharge unit from where the
treated water can be drawn. The whole system runs with gravitational
pull and does not use power to build pressure, asserts Mr.
Lakshminarayana.