Survey of materials and

technologies developed by
NEERI,CASTRA
  WTMD has historically developed several technologies such as
Nalgonda Technique for defluoridation, pot chlorinator etc.
NEERI Following technologies are still in vogue:
Technology  Instant Portable Water Filter : NEERI-ZAR
 Electrolytic Defluoridation
Development
 Iron Removal
and  Arsenic Field Test Kit
Implementati  Water Quality Test Kit
on  Chemo defluoridation
 Chemo-dearsenification
  In India, an estimated 62 million people, including 6 million
children suffer from fluorosis due to consumption of excess
Electrolytic fluoride contaminated water. As per BIS 10500, 2004 and WHO
guideline the desirable limit of fluoride in drinking water is 1.0
Defluoridation mg/L, which can be extended to 1.5 mg/L in the absence of
alternate source.
(EDF) Electrolytic defluoridation process is a water purification system
suitable for fluoride affected area with water containing excess
Technique fluoride. The defluoridation process is based on the principle of
electrolysis, using aluminium plate electrodes placed in the raw
water containing excess fluoride. During the electrolysis, anode
gets ionized and fluoride is removed by complex formation,
adsorption, precipitation, coagulation and settling.

  As per Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), more
than 50,000 habitations in 25 states in India are affected due to
Hand Pump excess Iron in groundwater. Precipitation of soluble iron by
oxidation with air followed by sedimentation and filtration is a
attachable Iron relatively simple process used for removal iron from groundwater.
Removal (IR) Based on this process NEERI has designed hand pump attachable
iron removal plant with 1 cubic meter per hr. hydraulic loading.
Plant The plant is suitable for 250 persons with 40 lpcd and 10 hrs of
operation. The dimensions of the plant are 135 cm diameter and
150 cm height.
  HRTS involves the use of dynamic, multicomponent soil system as a
live filtration device to renovate the wastewater through adsorption,
ion exchange, precipitation and stabilization of pollutants through
microbial degradation
 HRTS is a land application system wherein the wastewater is applied
in especially designed field layouts with wide ridges and furrows. In
ridges, trees are planted having much higher transpiration capacity,
High Rate while wastewater is allowed to flow through the furrows
 The high transpiration capacity of plants grown on soil matrix enables
Transpiration the system to serve as a biopump
System  The soil system works in close conjunction with plants on it that
provide a biopump through their high transpiration capacity through
stomatal network. As all the wastewater is utilized in this process, the
(HRTS) ground water pollution problem is obviated
 In addition to this, artificial filter media and leaf fall from standing
plants provide thick mat and forms a filter bed, which is responsible
for retention and assimilation of colour bodies
 Thus, the treatment and disposal of wastewater through HRTS
provide cost effective and environmentally acceptable solution to
manage the problem of coloured wastewaters
  Phytorid - Scientific Wetland with Active Biodegradation (SWAB)
is an upgradation of the existing technological concepts with
respect to Indian climatic conditions and negates all the above
Phytorid mentioned drawbacks. Basically it is a hybrid of MBBR (Moving
Wastewater Bed Biofilm Reactor) systems and Phytorid wastewater treatment
system with much enhanced hydrodynamic flow regime. A major
Treatment requirement of this technology is being felt in the Phytorid -
Scientific Wetland with Active Biodegradation (SWAB) Page 2
Technology country right now as all the existing STP’s have (by law) to be
upgraded to meet the new regulation of discharge standards of
10mg/L BOD and 10mg/L TSS. Existing technological options
make this upgradation prohibitively expensive but with SWAB the
same can be achieved in a much more economical manner.
  Conventional secondary clarifiers can have problems regarding
the hydraulics of incoming flow, so a new novel clarifier called the
Hydroplumehas been developed to optimize inflow and sludge
settlement.
HYDROPLUME -A  In the activated sludge process the quality of the effluent,to a
high Rate large extent, depends on how efficiently
the biological sludge mass is separated from the treated
Secondary Clarifier wastewater.
for waste water
 The design of conventional secondary clarifiers does not take
treatment hydraulic energy dissipation into account,hence they are either
too large or often fail to ensure efficient solids -liquid separation.
 Therefore,the key issue is to improve the hydrodynamics of the
secondary clarifier by optimizing the velocity gradient and
hydraulic energy dissipation to ensure natural flocculation to
enhance the solidsliquid separation.
Microbial
culture– for  Improvement in treatment efficiency of any biological sewage
treatment system.
improved  Quality of wastewater to be treated and can be considered under
efficiency of environmental aspects.
 Major raw materials to be utilized is microbial culture and
existing immobilization material.
wastewater  The system is cheaper and makes the system more efficient.
treatment  Cost effective as the treatment time reduces.

system
  CSIR-NEERI’s initiative to develop a domestic multi-fuel stove:
NEERDHUR, an Improved Cook Stove (ICS) has been developed by
adopting a comprehensive approach of technological innovations
for improved stove efficiency, emission reduction and intensive
stakeholder interactions to address issues of adoption such as
NEERDHUR stove cost, stove maintenance, fuel affordability, and availability.
 The NEERI stove “NEERDHUR” addresses adoption and
sustainability related challenges of ICS.
 It is a multi-fuel (biomass, charcoal, agro residue etc.) stove with
hybrid operation modes.
  ‘NEERI-ZAR’ is the water purification system suitable for potable
water supply particularly under emergency situation with a wide
NEERI - ZAR : range of flood water quality.

Portable  The NEERI-ZAR meet drinking and cooking water requirements

on emergency basis and serve as a disaster management tool for
Instant Water drinking water supply under flood affected situations.

Filter  A typical unit, with two 100 L vessels, can serve about 20-30
persons, when operated for 10 hours a day, on the basis of 6-10
litres per capita/day for drinking and cooking purposes.
  The device basically works on the principle of passive removal of
pollutants.
 Air is passed through different layers of media beds with air
Passive Air purifying plants.
Rejuvenating  The media adsorbs gaseous pollutants and also helps in arresting
particulate matter.
System (PARS)  Air purifying plants tested by many scientists have can remove 70-
80% of gaseous pollutants.
 Finally clean air released in the atmosphere
  Needs 'NO', electronic or electrical, operation.
 Hands free, that is without hand contact, and unintentional, that is
automatic and effortless flushing.
NEERFLUSH'-  Uses minimum requisite quantity of water per flush, as uses 75%
Automatic Less Water than standard facility.
 Leads to assured, regular, and compulsory flushing and cleaning,
Mechanical of urinalstoilets.
Urinal-Toilet  Low cost, compared with the existing systems.
Flusher  Can be customized and retrofitted, to new as well as existing
urinals-toilets.
 Easy and low maintenance.
 Reduces, associated health risk.
 The institute is involved in the development of advanced functional
materials for energy, environment and resource conservation.. The ongoing
work stresses on the importance of understanding the recent advances in
materials synthesis and characterization, and the applications of materials
for environmental pollution control and energy related applications. Several
environmental and energy technologies have emerged with substantial
benefits from new materials which includes reduction in waste and improved
ENVIRONME energy efficiency, environmentally benign composite structures, waste
remediation and energy conservation. These materials are being used for
NTAL their potential environmental applications in the areas of solar energy
utilisation (SUN )for sustainable development , CO2 capture and
MATERIALS valorization, indoor air quality, diesel exhaust emission control, catalytic
methane combustion, artificial photosynthesis and water and waste-water
treatment with specific reference to VOCs, arsenic and phenolic.
• Intermittent solar energy converted into a storable and
transportable, compact solid fuel
• Solar-made zinc is an attractive renewable energy carrier.
• Hydrogen production through photocatalysed -thermochemical
cycles bypasses the H2/O2 separation problem of water
dissociation(hydrogen and oxygen produced at different steps)
MATERIALS

Photothermal
with parabolic
 Intermittent solar energy converted into a storable and
dish transportable, compact solid fuel
 Solar-made zinc is an attractive renewable energy carrier.
 Hydrogen production through photocatalysed -thermochemical
cycles bypasses the H2/O2 separation problem of water
dissociation ( hydrogen and oxygen produced at different steps )
Catalysed Solar
Thermal Heating  Plasmonic property of CNP in water, localize the solar energy
where evaporation occurs.
 Minimizes heat losses which leads to enhancement in solar
thermal efficiency at low optical concentration in open air while
generating the steam.

Solar Distillation
 It is a very simple and one cycle process.
 Evaporation to remove dirt and impurities.
 Distillation to collect clean and pure water.
CENTRE FOR
APPLICATION OF
SCIENCE AND The Centre for Application of Science and Technology to Rural
Areas, set up in 1974, was a bold effort at bringing appropriate
TECHNOLOGY TO technology to the people. But the attempt failed to take off,
RURAL AREAS because INDIA is probably the most industrialised developing
country in the world today, with more than a million trained
(CASTRA) scientists. But this has only resulted in creating a deeply
divided society. The last three decades have witnessed a
proliferation of institutions set up to promote rural development
through science and technology. Their social impact, however,
has remained extremely limited.
 At the village level, ASTRA's work is appreciated, perhaps because
the people have been so neglected that they accept whatever
comes their way. But often, the problem is that technologies are
hastily introduced with inadequate understanding of the socio-
economic reality of the village. For instance, take the case of the
community biogas plants introduced at Pura. As S N Srinivas
explained, "The primary need of the villagers in this area is water.
We were wrong initially in thinking that they need just cooking
gas. But when the people told us what their priorities were, we
changed our focus."
Now, the biogas plant at Pura generates about 5 KVA of electricity
to run an 8 hp pump. Piped groundwater is supplied to some
village households for a monthly payment of Rs 5 each. Other
households get water from public taps. But a venture to start a
cooperative dairy involving the Pura villagers and those of the
neighbouring village Sugganahalli proposed two years ago has not
taken off.
 A factor that hinders Indian rural development is the caste system,
which goes to underline class divisions. L Narasimharaju, an
associate at Ungra, explains, "We can solve the technical problems
of the people but can do very little about certain social issues. For
instance, in a lot of these villages, including Ungra, Harijans are
not allowed to enter tea shops. Our efforts to remove social
untouchability has not had much success."
On the other hand, there are instances of villagers displaying
resourcefulness. Take the case of Hosehalli, a hamlet near Ungra
where a wood gasifier was installed by ASTRA to provide 43
households with electricity and water. The villagers operate the
gasifier themselves and carry out minor repairs. When a gas
chamber began leaking because of corrosion and the ASTRA staff
was debating whether to shift to a ceramic chamber, the villagers
went ahead and used a paste of soap and flour as a sealant. The 5-
kW gasifier uses about 16 kg of wood daily, obtained from a 2.2 ha
plantation of quick growing trees.