IIT Guwahati, Bombay tie up with European partners to address water issues

Both IITs are working towards addressing the staggering issues in the Indian water sector under the Indo-European project ‘LOTUS’.  

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and IIT Bombay have tied up with European partners to address issues in the Indian water sector. As per a statement issued by IIT Guwahati, both institutes are working actively towards addressing the staggering issues in the Indian water sector under the Indo-European project ‘Low-cost innovative technology for water quality monitoring and water resources management for urban and rural water systems in India’ (LOTUS).  

As per the statement, the LOTUS Indo-European project aims to provide solutions for several issues in the Indian water sector. A core element of the LOTUS project is a novel water quality sensor that builds on previous work of Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France and has been further developed during the project by researchers at Université Gustave Eiffel in collaboration with IIT Guwahati and the SME EGM, Sophia Antipolis, France. 

The core of the LOTUS sensor, is a chip with Carbon Nanotube (CNT) based sensing elements that are capable of measuring multiple quality parameters, including total dissolved solids (TDS), potential of hydrogen (pH), chlorine, and arsenic. 

Professor S Senthilmurugan, Department Chemical Engineering, and, Chairperson, Technology Incubation Centre, IIT Guwahati, said, “LOTUS water quality sensor requirements are established after collecting requirements from Indian water utility owners, operators, end users and R&D experts and therefore LOTUS sensor is expected to satisfy requirements of Indian water industries.” 

The IIT Guwahati LOTUS project team is planning to demonstrate LOTUS solutions in Guwahati and Bangalore city from July-Dec 2023 in collaboration with LOTUS partners.  

LOTUS sensor to inform about water quality 

In first level, the LOTUS sensor will be installed to inform the user of the quality of water supplied to them through pipes, tanks and from groundwater, and for the mitigation of leakages in piped supply. In second level, the optimum dosage of disinfectants will be demonstrated by using LOTUS solutions, the statement added. 

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