Even as concerns are being raised over the safe consumption of bottled water in the city, a group of students from Mohandas College of Engineering have come up with an innovative solution which helps in getting rid of the E-coli in the water and acting as a disinfectant.
The project titled ‘Design of a water disinfection system using silver and copper nanoparticle impregnated coconut shell waste carbon’ was proposed by a team of students- Shilpa K Nayana, Akhila Krishnan C and Shilpa Raj S from Mohandas College of Engineering and Technology (MCET), Nedumangad.
They were guided by their professors, K M Usha, the principal investigator and S S Shijina, the co-investigator of the project.
“ The inspiration behind this project is the sense of responsibility towards society as citizens in general and biotechnologists in particular.
This is why we thought of developing a project using raw materials which could not only help in purifying water but also act as a disinfectant which can kill 99 per cent of E Coli,” said Shilpa K Nayana, one of the innovators.
Decontamination of drinking water by making use of the raw materials, which are available in abundance, is the prime objective of the project.
The project envisages to set up a synergetic system capable of adsorption as well as destructing microbial organisms.
The students say the procedures are cheap and safer.
The team has also bagged the second position in idea presentation at ‘TheTech Conclave’, which is the flagship event of Drishti, the annual technical festival of College of Engineering, Trivandrum.
‘Engineers for society’ was this year’s theme.