Humble filter makes a comeback

Water ATM

As dawn breaks, two queues start forming at the only petrol pump in Lakshmangarh, a small town in Rajasthan’s Alwar district. One, obviously, is of people waiting to get their vehicles’ fuel tanks refilled. The other is in front of a simple metal box mounted on the petrol pump’s boundary wall. People like to call it ATM machine.

Arsenic control

Tulsi Fights Fluorosis

Why this study? Fluorosis, which causes dental and skeletal decay, is endemic in at least 25 countries across the world. According to estimates by Fluoride Action Network, a US-based non-profit, 25 million people are affected by fluorosis in India and another 66 million are at a risk. How does your method work? Interviewee:  Rahul Kamble

Nano arsenic mop

MILLIONS in India and Bangladesh are at risk due to arsenic contaminated groundwater. Drinking such water can result in diseases like high blood pressure, abnormal thickening of skin and liver and prostate cancers. The methods to filter arsenic from drinking water are limited and costly. Commonly, alumina (aluminium oxide)-based materials like activated alumina are used to filter the contaminated water.

Desalination made easy

AS drinking water sources become scarce, the dependence on groundwater increases. But groundwater is brackish in many places and the technologies to make salty water potable are high on energy consumption, inputs and maintenance costs. Scientists have now found a cost- effective device to desalinate water. They have taken their cue from one of the guiding principles of water purification—removing salt ions from water.

Lemony clean water

SOLAR Water Disinfection or SODIS, an effective, low-cost water treatment method, has been around for several years. It works on the principle that adequate exposure of water to sunlight deactivates microorganisms. But it takes long to purify water this way and this limits the use of this method.

Oilfree, naturally

Pure myth

When was the last time you drank water straight from the tap at your house to slake thirst on a hot summer day, without hesitation. Chances are you would have at least boiled or filtered the water. The public water supply in India is so unreliable that the urban middle class, with its increased spending power, prefers shelling out an extra buck on one of the numerous water purifiers available in the market, rather than risk health. In a decade or two, more than half of India will live in urban areas.

Emergency

A cruel summer has been left behind. Pipes are gurgling to life and the surge of water tankers on Chennai's streets is on the ebb. People and leaders are now free to discuss issues non-aqueous. There are even days when Chennai's papers skip the almost mandatory columns devoted to water. It is beguilingly close to good times.