Flood Water Treatment Through Electrolysis

Floods of various scales hit Pakistan every year specially, in monsoon period. In the late July 2010, flooding of Indus River is considered to be one of the worst in the history of Pakistan. According to the government of Pakistan data almost 20 million people and one fifth of the total land area of the Pakistan were affected. Absence of clean and drinkable water appears to be one of the key challenges apart from the malnutrition and devastated infrastructure in flood affected areas. While adequate quantity of flood water is available, that contains dissolved solids and pathogens which cause various life-threatening diseases such as typhoid and cholera. To provide clean and drinkable water to the affected communities, Dr Asif Tabish, Assistant Professor and Consultant at CERAD is developing an easier, cheaper, and faster solution for water purification. Chlorination, Ozonation, reverse osmosis and UV are the most commonly used method for disinfection. Despite that chlorine is most effective method of drinking water disinfection, it has several disadvantages. These includes, unfavorable taste and odor associated with the use of chlorine in the drinking water. Moreover, chlorine is ineffective for some microorganisms while using alone, also it produces toxic by-products. This project funded by HEC targets the use of electrolysis technique with appropriate pre-filtration for flood water purification which is more feasible alternative of chlorination. Power requirements to operate the system can be met by harvesting solar energy so that it can be taken in service at any place where electricity is not available or cut off due to flood. Moreover, the trace quantities of metal can be removed efficiently from the flood water by subjecting it to direct electric current. The treatment unit consists of storage tanks dc pump, dc power supply through solar panel, pre-filtration unit and electrolysis chamber.PURPOSE:The basic objective of this project is to provide drinkable water to flood affected peoples by cost effective and in situ treatment of flood water.  

BENEFITS:Using electrolysis technology in purification unit, contains no harmful chemical that pose a bad effect on human health as associated with other chemical methods.Low Energy and material cost as compared to other methods. Can be easily implemented and easy for people to use.