Desh ki mitti: How IIT Jodhpur is treating contaminated water by using Rajasthan clay

IIT Jodhpur has come up a low-cost and environment friendly technology for treating contaminated water by using Rajasthani clay and sunlight.

A research team led by Rakesh Kumar Sharma, a professor of the IIT Chemistry Department, developed the Rajasthani clay based-photocatalytic water purification technology.

This technology can be used to treat contaminated water containing textile industry effluents, which is a major problem in Western Rajasthan, he said.

Describing the technology, Sharma said that when photocatalysts are exposed to sunlight, reactive oxygen is formed which destroys the contaminants.

A photocatalyst is a substance that generates catalyst activity using energy from light.

However, the present set of photocatalysts are expensive and practically not viable. They are very fine particles which are difficult to retain after treatment of water," he said.

Sharma said the Rajasthani clay plays it role there. The clay-based photocatalysts maintain their inherent surface activity and can be recovered upto 99 per cent after the water treatment, making it reusable, he said.

Since it is natural clay, it is not harmful to the environment and is safe to use even for drinkable water, he said, adding that the technology can purify polluted water quickly and make it safe at a very low cost Sharma said another key

feature of the clay photocatalysts is that they work well for pharmaceutical industry effluent as well.

He said IIT Jodhpur was aiming to prepare a prototype to provide technical solution for water purification to rural and remote communities, using mobile van equipped with the purification systems.