(545av) Developing a Prototype: “Portable” Solution for “Potable” Water

The development of reverse osmosis happened in 1960. Along the years this technique has been widely accepted all over world for varied applications ranging from seawater desalination to municipal water treatment. Forward osmosis (FO) is one of the foremost technologies for low energy consuming solutions for water purification. Water treatment is emerging as one of the most popular fields of engineering. Providing safe drinking water has become a challenge for various government agencies and municipal corporations across the world. While the nature of the problem remains same, the specifics related to treatment changes according to source and geographical locations. In this study we have carried out a detailed analysis on selection, design, development and pricing for a prototype of potable water system for purifying water in emergency situations. The portable and light purification system is envisaged to be driven by FO. This pouch will help serve as an emergency water filtration device. The current effort employs a model to understand the interplay of permeability and area on the rate of purification of water from any impure source / brackish water. The draw solution for the FO pouch is considered to be a combination of salt and sugar such that dilution of the same would result in an oral rehydration solution (ORS) which is a boon for dehydrated patients. Experiments have been carried out in designing, developing and checking the feasibility of pouch under standard conditions. However, the effort takes an extra step to actually estimate the cost and pricing of designing such a prototype.

While the mathematical model yields the best membrane (compositions taken from literature) combination in terms of permeability and area, the experiments shows the feasibility of prototype and the pricing takes into account the viability of such a solution to be made available as a retail item. The expected outcome of this work is to design a pouch for collecting purified water from brackish water source in stipulated amount of time depending on various conditions. The product is envisaged to be a market competitor for packaged drinking water and ORS combination (costing around $0.5 combined) and thus, to be feasible has to be priced around the same range with greater margins in order to have a better distribution. Thus, a proper business plan and production of the same has been formulated in order to be a feasible solution for unprecedented calamities and emergency situations.