Researchers at IIT Jodhpur have fabricated a portable sensor for detecting lead in water. It can detect lead even when present at extremely low concentration of 0.018 ppb, much lower than the WHO limit of 5 ppb for drinking water. A highly sensitive, portable device that can detect the presence of lead in water even … Continue reading IIT Jodhpur fabricates a highly sensitive device for lead detection
Drinking water
TIFR desalinates seawater without using electricity
TIFR researchers have produced gold nanoparticles that can absorb sunlight over the entire visible region and even the near infrared light. They used such gold nanoparticles to absorb energy from sunlight to be able to desalinate seawater to produce drinking water. The gold nanoparticles can also be used for converting carbon dioxide to methane more … Continue reading TIFR desalinates seawater without using electricity
Decline in low-intensity rainfall reduces groundwater recharge in north India
Research carried out by IIT Gandhinagar team has found increased groundwater recharge in south India between 1996 and 2016 due to increase in high-intensity rainfall during monsoon. But in the case of north India, the decline in low-intensity rainfall during the same period has resulted in a reduction in groundwater recharge. Based on data collected … Continue reading Decline in low-intensity rainfall reduces groundwater recharge in north India
Why gulping water quenches thirst
The neural mechanism that signals thirst and the thirst inhibitory neurons which signal to stop drinking have been deciphered. The research unravels how the thirst inhibitory neurons signal to stop drinking based on the speed of intake of the liquid. It responds to intake of only liquids. Wonder why both animals and humans tend to … Continue reading Why gulping water quenches thirst
IISER Kolkata’s compound makes drinking water nearly free of fluoride, metal ions
The compound synthesised by IISER Kolkata researchers can reduce copper, mercury, cadmium and iron content in drinking water to below 2 ppb, which is far below the WHO limit for these metals. After 10 minutes of treatment, the fluoride concentration dropped from 10 ppm to 10 ppb. The compound can also absorb a wide variety of oils … Continue reading IISER Kolkata’s compound makes drinking water nearly free of fluoride, metal ions
IIT Bombay’s superior water filter needs very little power
Electrodes made of copper plates wound with cellulose thread coated with carbon nanotubes for capacitive deionisation and placed close to each other achieved 84% efficiency in ion removal. With power requirement of just 0.15 mW, the water filter made by IIT Bombay researchers can be operated with a pen-torch battery. Unlike the conventionally used reverse osmosis … Continue reading IIT Bombay’s superior water filter needs very little power
IIT Hyderabad uses activated jamun powder to remove fluoride from drinking water
After two hours of contact time, the activated jamun powder was able to reduce the fluoride content of Nalgonda groundwater from 3.2 mg per litre to less than 1.5 mg per litre, which is the WHO limit. Now, while removing excess fluoride from drinking water the usual problems such as high operational costs and getting … Continue reading IIT Hyderabad uses activated jamun powder to remove fluoride from drinking water
IISc’s copper-coated membrane makes drinking water safe
The membrane with controlled release of copper ion may turn out to be a potential candidate for water purification applications with enhanced antibacterial and antifouling performances. There is an age-old practice of storing drinking water in copper vessels to rid the water of bacteria. Scientific evidence of copper vessel’s antibacterial property became available in March … Continue reading IISc’s copper-coated membrane makes drinking water safe
Indian researchers use graphene sieves to turn seawater into drinking water
Producing potable water through desalination may become more efficient and less energy intensive if researchers at the University of Manchester are able to successfully use graphene oxide (GO) membranes to filter common salts present in seawater on a commercial scale. When the spacing between two successive graphene oxide sheets was nearly 10 Å (1 angstrom … Continue reading Indian researchers use graphene sieves to turn seawater into drinking water
IIT Madras researchers prove the superiority of arsenic water filter which got $18 million funding
An exhaustive research carried out by a team of researchers led by Prof. T. Pradeep from the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, spread over four years has put to rest the scepticism about the merits of the arsenic water filter developed by them. The water filter has been in … Continue reading IIT Madras researchers prove the superiority of arsenic water filter which got $18 million funding
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