G Filter
About the Practice
1.Ground or surface water contamination rendering it to be bad for human consumption is a location based problem. The solution should be also a local technology which is locally producible, usable and cost effective. G filter provides an answer to this water contamination problem at point-of -use. 2.The G filter is to be cost effective to produce. Therefore clay and sawdust used for local traditional pottery are used but in a different proportion. It is important to remember that clay ceramic utensils, cruse all are manufactured locally and sold locally and is accessible to people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. 3.The dissemination of technology should be cost effective therefore it is better to innovate within potter’s knowledge. Here baking or sintering process for flower vase (100% clay product) pot manufacturing is modified and adopted for baking the G Filter (frustum shaped clay ceramic water filters). 4.G filter can easily separate bacterial microbes from water hence could be a solution for waterborne diseases caused by these microbes (Gupta et al. 2018). 5.The technology works on principle of gravity and therefore operational cost or expenditure of energy or electricity is negligible. 6.Pottery in India is becoming obsolete due to reduction in economic profits of artists undertaking this profession. G Filter technology is an economic opportunity for the potters and persuades them to sustain their livelihoods by following their inherited traditions. The G-filter was initially introduced keeping in mind skill development, local accessibility, potter community sustenance, and inexpensive and efficient rural water services in western Rajasthan. 7.A technical interrogation and participatory approach performing indigenization and re-engineering traditional baking procedures along with “Potter for Peace” technology for suiting traditional Indian household pottery production is elaborated [Valdes, 2008].
Detail:
The uniqueness of G-filter lies in its dependence on local resources like clay, cellulose material and sustained inherited knowledge of traditional potters. The G filter technology is designed in such a way that it utilizes the knowledge that has helped to sustain life of the potter community. A new technology thus planted does not interfere with community’s ability to sustain their knowledge of pottery and way of life. Equal volumetric ratio of clay and organic material concept is derived from the scientific explanations of sustained horse dung based building materials used by communities of Marwar regions in Rajasthan. It’s a baked clay technology blended with traditional pottery techniques known to Indian potters. Since the filters are manufactured by local potter family, rural people (at bottom of the economic pyramid) need not travel beyond their village boundaries to acquire one. G filter is manufactured from the waste from carpentry (sawdust) and clayey soils similar to other pottery products. A uniform mix of sieved sawdust and salty clay taken in equal volumes is added with 70% by volume of water to form disk-shaped composites. The composite is kept overnight a moist cloth covering. The composite is press-formed to frustum shape using a 30-ton press. Once baked, the contaminated drinking water can be filled in the frustum shaped receptacle, the water percolates through the micro-nano porous receptacle which can be collected in a container and used for consumption. The microbial test of E-Coli strains showed 99.99% removal efficiency conforming to the required standards of drinking water set by the World Health Organization. Approximately 90% reduction in turbidity and 50% reduction of total dissolved salts (TDS) and electrical conductivity is also achieved as per the test reports of National Test House, Jaipur [NTH 2015]. The percolated water filtrate remains free from contaminants of sizes larger than 10-6m to 10-9m. Gupta et al. 2018 suggest the baked clay water filtration technology good for microbial (E-coli and bacteria) filtration, turbidity removal, and other organic and inorganic contaminants from drinking water at point-of use. G-Filters can be considered as a sustainable solution for drinking water treatment. They are less energy intensive during operation. Since raw materials are cost effective, overall cost is low and hence accessible to the economically weaker people in society. Filters are produced using the indigenous knowledge of the potters in our villages and cost-effective in providing the drinking water demands of rural households of India. G Filter technology may provide a boost to rural community-based pottery tradition in South Asia or India. Local manufacturing, local testing and local water solution with local materials is considered important. Potter community people are leaving their traditional craft in search of jobs which could provide them with more monetary support. The best part of this product uses existing household (joint traditional extended family owned) production units and would prevent people from leaving the traditional craft. Traditional baking knowledge is incorporated to get quality output and the skilled potter know what to attain now.
About the Innovator
Address: Indian Institute of Technology NH 65, Surpura Bypass Rd, Karwar, Jodhpur
City: Jodhpur
State: Rajasthan
PIN Code 342037
Email: rajmukesh22@gmail.com
Contact No: 8561995290.000001
Practice Details
Link: 1.To meet the demand of low cost household drinking water treatment G-filters can be produced locally, using local material resources and labor. This provides an opportunity to preserve indigenous knowledge of potters which is badly affected due to modern manufacturing industries.
2.G Filters work on gravity based percolation and adsorption through porous media. No electricity or heat requirements are required. Thus water treatment is achieved without use of electricity and zero water wastage.
3.Low cost due to low cost of raw materials namely clay and sawdust. Further since it is to cater local water treatment needs, no transport cost is appended or fracture cost is added towards the total cost of a filter.
4.Factory based commercially available filters in the market have complicated design due to number of parts, which results lower down the reliability of overall product, since this filter is having a frustum shape receptacle ensuring greater reliability.
5.Dissemination is performed by selecting interested people from local potter communities or who are very interested in clay based pottery (such as clay artists, students, researchers etc) who reside at place with contaminated water resources and feel the need for a low cost contamination removal device.
Problem Scale: Worldwide
News Link 5:
- The
G-filter: - The simple high tech solution to India's water pollution -
https://materials.typepad.com/materialsconnect/2019/08/the-g-filter-the-simple-high-tech-solution-to-indias-water-pollution.html