Page 356 - AWSAR 2.0

332 || AWSAR Awarded Popular Science Stories - 2019
was much beyond the standard acceptable limit and it startled us further when we found the water electrolyzer was indicating muddy water. Any ordinary filter was insufficient to purify such heavily contaminated water. It was scary to realize that we had been consuming such polluted water for one full year without realizing the consequences. I came across a report by Water Aid which said: “India ranked
first among ten countries in the world for having almost 163.1 million inhabitants deprived of having access to home close safe water. Around 37.7 million Indians were affected by waterborne diseases annually.” That was quite an eye opener. It made me curious to explore more about water quality and its impact on living beings and on the ecosystem.
When I met the villagers to record their views on water pollution, they thinking that I had come from a government office for inspection started complaining
about the waste management,
river pollution in the village by
chemical discharges from the
neighbouring liquor factories, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing plants, and how
their health was being affected
by several water-borne
diseases post consuming
unpurified river water.
In the meantime, I received
the Junior Research Fellowship
award by UGC University Grants
Commission) opening up the
opportunity to pursue full-time research for me. The turning point of my life was when I decided to pursue research on water quality monitoring. I started, the first phase of my research work, with a literature survey to understand sources and types of water pollution, and pollution status at national and international levels. I read numerous research papers
accounting for the research activities carried out in the past discussing the methodologies and technologies implemented for water
quality assessment. Being a double master’s in electronics, my inclination was more towards the identification and comparison of the technologies commercially available and widely implemented for the water quality measurements. I visited Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune, to gather knowledge on the laboratory testing methods and instruments they used for water quality measurements. In their chemistry laboratory,
I performed the water sample testing to measure the major physico-chemical parameters like electrical conductivity, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, BOD, COD, ions like Mg2+, Ca2+, Na+, Cl−. I met the officials of the hydrology section at the Indian Meteorological Department, Pune; Pune Municipal Corporation; and, Environmental
Around 37.7 million Indians were affected by waterborne diseases annually.” That was quite an eye opener. It made me curious to explore more about water quality and its impact on living beings and on the ecosystem.