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Earthenware Water Filter: A Double Edged Sustainable Design Concept for India

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ICoRD'13

Abstract

Approximately 1.5 million children die annually in India, before they attain 5 years in age. The deaths are mainly attributed to pneumonia and waterborne diseases like dysentery and cholera. Unavailability of clean drinking water is the root cause of the problem. Apart from sources of water being equally available to the masses, unavailability of extensive filtration systems, either at the point of distribution (POD) or at the point of use (POU), is a reason for consumption of impure water. An affordable water filter (POU) that can effectively kill all the disease causing pathogens will help in stemming the infant deaths. In India, earthenware pottery dates back to 1500 BC. Currently, potters are almost facing extinction because of changes in society. This paper, explores the possibility of using the skills of the Indian potter in making water filters out of earthenware with cheap filter substrate and provisions for germicidal UV based disinfection system powered through energy harvesting from transducers.

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Correspondence to M. Aravind Shanmuga Sundaram .

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Aravind Shanmuga Sundaram, M., Bhattacharya, B. (2013). Earthenware Water Filter: A Double Edged Sustainable Design Concept for India. In: Chakrabarti, A., Prakash, R. (eds) ICoRD'13. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, India. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1050-4_114

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1050-4_114

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, India

  • Print ISBN: 978-81-322-1049-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-81-322-1050-4

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