From water purifiers, water meters to reverse osmosis units, ‘Water Expo 2012', which opened in the city on Tuesday, showcases a range of products and technologies.
The focus of the three-day expo, being organised by Water Today , a monthly publication, at Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam, is on desalination and waste water recycling. The market for water and waste water products was growing at around 10 per cent ever year and Chennai was turning out to be a big market for such products, according to the organisers.
Several of the stalls offer portable water purifiers with filtration technologies to suit varying quality levels of water.
Water Today's General Manager (International Business Development) D.Naveenson said following competition the cost of the water purifiers has dropped by 25 per cent. Domestic purifiers are priced between Rs.3,000 and Rs.15,000 depending on the filtration capacity.
On display at the exhibition is a live demonstration of the working of a reverse osmosis unit. Besides desalination units, waste water treatment technologies have been showcased by several exhibitors from various countries, including Germany, Taiwan and the U.S.
Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) technology, which is compact and easy to operate, is one of the latest sewage treatment technologies showcased by companies from Canada.
Different types of distribution systems, effluent treatment units and equipment for bottling units also form part of the display. Pipeline made of anti-corrosive and leak-proof materials such as fibre reinforced plastic pipeline have been displayed.
Inaugurating the exhibition and a conference, coinciding with the expo, Environment Minister B.V.Ramana highlighted various initiatives of the government such as setting up of desalination plants in Chennai and Ramanathapuram. The State government, he added, was also in the process of establishing 45 desalination plants in Ramanathapuram district.
Co-ordination between private and public sector was the need of the hour to achieve cost-effective solutions for water and waste water management, he added.
