Two students from India have designed a low-cost lead water filter that can be made with locally sourced materials. The lead filtration device was designed during Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s V.I.B.E program. The students’ names are Ananya Joshi and Preethi Srinivasan, from Manipal Institute of Technology and Vellalar College of Engineering and Technology, respectively.
Contaminated water source is found to be the major cause of deaths and diseases worldwide. It accounts for the deaths of 14,000 people per day globally and in India alone, it has been estimated that approximately 580 people die due to water pollution-related health conditions every day. The students found via research that heavy metals, particularly lead, have detrimental effects on the human body.
The lead water filter they have designed uses activated carbon to adsorb lead from water flowing through the filter. Since India’s economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, and the country generates about 350 million tonnes of agricultural waste every year. This makes it relatively easy to produce activated carbon from this agricultural waste, compared to other filtration materials. It is also the reason why activated carbon is very cheap in India.Â
This brings the total approximated cost of their filter to just under $5 USD! Check out the team’s full 4-minute video below, explaining the construction of their design. To help support the team, drop a LIKE their video on YouTube!
