Disinfection of water is quite essential for removing pathogenic microorganisms that causes a number of water borne diseases but most of the people are worried about the dangers of using chemical systems like chlorination that lead to harmful/carcinogenic effects. There is nothing to fear now with scientists in India developing SWASTIIK, a new system for disinfection of water with a mix up of modern technology with Ayurveda knowledge.
The scientists at the CSIR-NCL, Pune, have come up with a solution, which is claimed quite safe and natural, to disinfect waster completely. They also claim that the water purified also have health benefits of natural oils.
Dr. V M Bhandari led the team of scientists. They had the support from Water Technology Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.
The new hybrid technology named SWASTIIK’ involves boiling of a liquid as a result of pressure reduction (cavitation) . They also use natural oils having antimicrobial properties.
The scientists said that the technology could eliminate harmful bacteria, including antimicrobial resistant bacteria economically. They said that the new system not only integrates Indian traditional knowledge of Ayurveda for complete disinfection of water, but also offers health benefits of natural oils.
The hydrodynamic cavitation technique combines chemistry, biology and chemical engineering along with natural resources in the form of natural oils and plant extracts. The scientists claim that the system had increased efficiency and reduced the cost of water treatment. The team achieved complete elimination for gram- negative E. coli and gram-positive S. aureus bacteria and even AMR bacteria/ difficult opportunistic pathogenic bacteria typically in 5 to 10 minutes.
The increased rates of disinfection using oil drastically reduced the time of operation and consequently reduce cost as compared to other advanced treatment processes.
