Low Cost Advanced Water Treatment for Rural Areas

Abstract

Conventional water treatment including aeration, coagulation, clari-flroculation, rapid sand filtration and disinfection is generally used for treatment of raw surface water in urban areas. This treatment is not suitable for rural areas due to change in water properties, unavailability of the skilled staff & maintenance of plant. The population & cost constraint is also a major factor in determining the suitable treatment. Well water is the major source for rural areas. The well water contains more TDS, Hardness and other impurities. To remove these impurities, advanced treatment such as ion exchange, reverse osmosis, distillation, other membrane processes, etc are required which are not feasible in rural areas. A low cost water filter is developed to meet the requirement of rural area. About 45-60% hardness and TDS removal is observed with negligible cost