BareFoot College

Idea

Solar powered small desalination plant

Introduction

Coastal Villages in India need potable drinking water

Innovation

10,000-liters-per-day solar-powered desalination plant was set up at the Vivekananda Memorial in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. The plant was developed by a team from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M)

Impact

The Ministry of Earth Sciences funded the Rs1.22 crore ($175,000) experimental project. It requires about 15 kV power a day to function. relatively low levels of salinity — ranging from 500 to 3,000 mg/liter, compared with seawater levels of around 35,000 mg/l — and a lack of electrical power. 6 plants are now operational