Environmentalists in Tiruchi had an opportunity on Friday to explore the potential of a truck fitted with mechanical unit to filter waste water in a matter of minutes with the help of patented Japanese technology.
Parked for a few hours on the banks of the Uyyakondan canal near Anna Nagar link road, the mid-size truck fitted with a prototype unit of the Kochi-based company Squas Solutions, has been in Tamil Nadu for over five days. It was invited to Tiruchi by a civic group, Citizens for Uyyakondan (CFU).
“We visited some dyeing units in Tiruppur and then mining companies near Tiruchi, and were invited by CFU to try the process in the Uyyakondan canal water,” Shafeer Shamsudeen, business development manager, Squas Solutions, told The Hindu.
The team used a submersible pump to draw water from the canal from a deeper level, where the waste tends to settle down. The raw water was then mixed with a chemical powder patented by the company, and agitated in a tank. A screw press separated the water from the sludge, which comes out as dry matter that could be reused as fertliser or bioplastic material. The water, while clear to look at, is not potable, but can be used for other purposes. A reverse osmosis (RO) module could be attached to make it fit for consumption.
“This prototype can process up to 1,500 litres per hour and costs around ₹10-12 lakh. It can be customised to suit the client’s requirements, and we are hopeful of having a domestic system ready for ₹1 lakh,” said Mr. Shamsudeen.
The chemical powder, which acts as a coagulant, is a compound made of seven minerals developed in Japan by the company’s founder, Hareesh Nambiar, who also holds its patent. Domestic waste water can be treated with 0.1 gram of Squas coagulant per litre, and results have shown that at least 80% to 96% of pollutants were reduced after the process. It has been tested in Jodhpur, Bengaluru, Chennai, Puducherry, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
“We are working on developing the coagulant powder as an off-the-shelf product like domestic detergents,” said Mr. Shamsudeen.
The Squas prototype is headed to Chennai, where there have been queries from private and government bodies, said the company official.
“We wanted to see how this technology could be used in Tiruchi, whether to clean water bodies, industrial waste or probably in the public toilet complexes,” said architect S. Vijaykumar, of CFU. “A prototype for the toilet blocks could be used to treat the flush water and make it reusable. This could reduce the need to pump water into the storage tanks.”
