IIT-K, MIT USA GET JOINT INDIAN PATENT FOR WATER PURIFICATION VESSEL

LUCKNOW : The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, have been granted a joint Indian patent for a water purification device. The invention titled “A Vessel and A Method for Purifying Water and Monitoring Quality of Water” is expected to be a quite cost-effective apparatus to check water quality, says a press release issued by the IIT-K. The team from IIT Kanpur and MIT, USA have developed the device to solve drinking water related problems.

Prof Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT Kanpur, said, “I congratulate the team led by Prof Indra Sen, K Sri Harsha and their counterparts at MIT, USA, on this novel device which I believe would be revolutionary in terms of water quality monitoring and purification.”

Here’s the technology

The purification vessel contains a regenerable sorbent material capable of binding the impurities and preserving it in a moist or dry format, thus producing inorganic contaminant-free water at a cost as low as ₹2 per litre. It can be procured without power and it does not leave any residual wastewater leading to zero maintenance expenses.

The novelty of the device lies in its capability for both purification and measurement by a single channel. Additional application areas beyond drinking water include food and beverage industry, wastewater reuse, batch generation of deionized water and agricultural water monitoring.

Inventor Indra Sen is an associate professor at the department of earth sciences, IIT Kanpur, with specialisation in isotope geochemistry. K Sri Harsha is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and founder of Kritsnam Technologies—a startup incubated at the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, IIT Kanpur.