A state-owned defence laboratory in Rajasthan has designed and developed a portable water purifier for use by troops on battlefield to quench their thirst from available surface water.
The water purifier that can quench the thirst of an army section comprising 10 soldiers for a day may soon be mass manufactured and supplied to the infantry, armoured and engineer section of soldiers on the move during both conventional and non-conventional operations.
The ultra-filtration membrane-based Field Water Purifier is a backpack unit manually operated by soldiers moving on missions, defence ministry official from Jodhpur Colonel SD Goswami was quoted as saying.
"The water purifier is capable of purifying the surface water available during troop’s movement on the battlefield and convert it into potable water of World Health Organisation standards," Goswami said.
The laboratory, based in Jodhpur in Rajasthan, belongs to the country's lone military research outfit, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
"This equipment purifies enough water for an army section of eight to 10 soldiers to quench its thirst for a day," the officer said.
Weighs just about eight kg, the equipment has been developed keeping in view the harsh field environments, where the quality of water may vary.
Most importantly, the equipment's user-friendliness is its unique selling proposition.
The system purifies up to 40 liters of water every hour and can be operated by hand and by foot. It also has a 300-hour anti-fouling mechanism.
The purifier does not need electricity or any chemical for purification of water.
"Water from rivers, lakes, ponds, and canals can be purified using this equipment and has been designed and developed for hard field conditions and all types of water availability," the officer said.
The system is specially suited for plains and mountain terrains, where major cause of water contamination is the suspended or dissolved silt as well as microbial impurities.
The defence laboratory has fabricated and completed tests on a demo prototype of the water purifier and it is now ready for field evaluations. |