IMMT develops low-cost water filter

Bangalore, Dec 18 (UNI) The Bhubaneshwar-based Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT) has developed a low-cost water filter to provide potable water on a mass-scale in rural areas.

IMMT Design and Rural Technology Head Surendra Khuntia today said the water filter called 'Terafil' would be a big boon to the rural people.

''Terafil is a low-cost burnt red clay porous filter used for treating turbid raw water into clean drinking water,'' he said.

''The filter, prepared from a mixture of ordinary pottery red clay, river sand and saw dust, removes 99.9 per cent of turbidity, 100 per cent of bacteria and 90 per cent of soluble iron, including heavy metals, bad odour and colour,'' he said.

With a lifespan of over five years, the product filters ten litres of water per hour and it could be fitted to any container to make a domestic or community water filter, he said.

He said the technology for the filter, which was invented in 1998, was tested in several countries for its effectiveness in providing safe drinking water.

The Orissa Government had already planned to install the 'Terafil' in all schools and health centres, he said adding that he had proposed to take up a pilot project on community-basis in other states including Karnataka.

The IMMT had already conducted training programmes in Kochi and Bhubhaneswar to popularise the product, which costs Rs 350.

It had also planned to transfer the technological know-how to entrepreneurs for a licence fee of Rs 60,000, he said adding that a research was on to develop a filter to remove fluoride from water.

UNI