The Hindu Business Line : NIOT demonstrates floating desalination project

New Delhi April 19 The Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has successfully demonstrated a floating desalination plant, based on a technology that uses the temperature difference between the water in the upper and lower levels of the ocean. This is being tried on a barge 40 km off Chennai.

"We have been able to set up the desalination plant with a capacity of one million litres of water per day. This plant, with a capital investment of Rs 20-22 crore, can produce water at 5-6 paise per litre, taking into account a 10-year amortisation," said the Minister of Earth Sciences, Mr Kapil Sibal.

NIOT now aims to experiment on a project having 10-million litre per day capacity, with which it can generate water at a production cost of 3 paise per litre, said Dr Purnima Jalihal, coordinator for the project.

"We would like to undertake this high capacity project along with a private partner," Mr Sibal said, adding that the exact mode of partnership is yet to be firmed up. Mr Sibal claimed that this process would be cheaper than reverse osmosis technology used for desalination as it uses almost half the levels of electricity required.

Incidentally, IVRCL, in partnership with Befesa, Spain, has floated Chennai Water Desalination Ltd, to set up a Rs 510 crore, 100-million litre a day seawater desalination facility in Minjur, North Chennai.

The project will supply water to Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metrowater), at less than 5 paise a litre (Rs 0.048 per litre).

The quality of purified water generated by NIOT in this project is 10 particles per million (ppm) where as the international standard allows for up to 500 ppm, said Dr Jalihal.

She added that this technology has generated interest abroad, including Mauritius and Seychelles. This technology can be potentially used in power plants in Chennai to generate drinking water as well. NIOT has already set up a land-based desalination plant at Kavarati in Lakshadweep.

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