Photo-Irradiation and adsorption based novel innovations for water-treatment
About 2.1 Billion people live without access to safe water sources. Contaminants of Emerging Concerns (CECs) such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides and nanoparticles are increasingly being detected in wastewater and in drinking water around the world, in addition to geogenic pollutants, pathogens, antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Water treatment systems that remove CECs and common contaminants from wastewater and drinking water are therefore urgently needed. 

PANI WATER will develop, deploy and validate in the field six prototypes for the removal of contaminants, including CECs, from wastewater and drinking water. The prototypes for wastewater treatment will consist of (i) a 20,000 L/day multifunctional oxidation reactor, (ii) a 10 L/day photoelectrochemical system, and (iii) a 100 L/day solar photolytic plant. The prototypes for drinking water treatment will consist of (iv) a 300 L/hour filtration, adsorption, and UVC LED system (v) a 20 L transparent jerrycan for solar water disinfection, and (vi) a 2,000 L/day electrocoagulation, oxidation, and disinfection t system. These prototypes will be deployed in peri-urban and rural areas in India. The consortium will work closely with the communities at the fieldsites, and carry out water quality analyses, health and social impact assessments, and advocate for safe reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation, and preservation of drinking water sources. PANI technologies can find promising application among the agricultural sector, water-demanding businesses (e.g. textile, pharmaceutical), and the Indian water utilities.