To find a solution to the severe plight of the 2019 water crisis in Chennai, six engineering and science students of GITAM (Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management) have come up with a smart water-recycling system for kitchen sinks. With this innovative recycling system for water, the students aim to reduce the water crisis in various cities in India.
Due to its innovative and practical design, the system has even bagged the first prize at the Business Plan Contest at Tirutsava, the annual techno-cultural festival of IIT Tirupati. Furthermore, the winners also represented India at the International Water Congress in Denmark in May 2022.
The team of this project included five B.Tech students – Prithvi Tripathy, Anik Panja, Jeswin GN, Sai Sasikanth Rokkam, and Shivani Narsina. And the sixth student, Rushali Mishra, is in her second year of B.Sc (Environmental Science) The coaches, Vikas Kumar Srivastav and Bollem Raja Kumar, from the GITAM VDC (Venture Development Centre) guided the students’ team for the completion of the project. They also got support from the university’s leadership team at various stages to turn their concept into a practical product.
The smart and eco-friendly water-recycling system called Hydro Gravitricity can catalyze biogas. It recycles the dark gray water that comes out of the kitchen sinks after washing dishes. It took around 2.5 years for the students for taking their concept to its prototype stage after working on various iterations and designs.
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According to the team’s coach Bollem Raja Kumar, the students have created a smart, self-maintaining, and retrofittable gray water and rainwater filtration system. It undergoes several stages fitted with membranes, filters, and sedimentation tanks along with a grease trap. The charcoal and sand filters are also present for thoroughly cleaning the water.
It even includes built-in sensors to offer real-time data on water quality. It also provides information on other parameters, like turbidity, pH, water volume, and TSD. The final filtered water is suitable for irrigation, flushing toilets, and cleaning certain areas around the house. The students have very well integrated all the systems and further engineered them to fit in a limited space.
According to student Anik Panja, they have created a special plug-and-play greywater recycling system. This system is easy to retrofit into the existing pipes of a kitchen. It is even smart, self-maintaining, and hassle-free. Plus, it reduces the effort needed for maintenance. They have also integrated various sensors into the system. It enables them to adjust their self-maintaining cycle. Meanwhile, it generates a live report to enable the users to monitor water utilization and its quality.
GITAM allocated certain funds and space to their students for building and testing their prototype. This system is good to use in any desired place be it residences or industries. In the future, the students are planning to work for getting access to different water testing labs in India. They are also working to validate the results and get the whole process published soon.
Via: The Hans India