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Potential and Validation of Sustainable Natural & Advance Technologies for Water & Wastewater Treatment, Monitoring and Safe Water Reuse in India

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PAVITR (Potential and Validation of Sustainable Natural & Advance Technologies for Water & Wastewater Treatment, Monitoring and Safe Water Reuse in India)

Reporting period: 2020-08-01 to 2022-01-31

The PAVITR project aims to validate, develop, and deploy fourteen cost-effective & sustainable technologies (prototype size), which can be up-scaled in India to tackle water challenges and ensure safe water reuse and improve the water quality of rivers and restore degraded ecosystems with a large spectrum of pollutions grade, using nature-based and advanced technologies.
PAVITR is deploying & developing water-wastewater technologies, including the challenge of emerging and conventional contaminants. Furthermore, PAVITR also aims to develop management & planning strategies to better monitor pollution levels with innovative sensors to boost real-time and open-access databases under Indian conditions. PAVITR follows a holistic approach to face shared challenges in Europe and India. We consider that international cooperation and research can tackle the current opportunities and limitations efficiently around water. Therefore, PAVITR is a platform to impel scientific cooperation between Europe and India. PAVITR shares experiences with high standards of respect and gender inclusion. Overall, PAVITR aims to contribute improving India's life quality and to help in the development of the technologies of European SMEs to become more competitive.
To address more challenging treatment capacities and technologies and research questions, our consortium adapted the initial workplan to an ambitious set of 14 prototypes for drinking water and wastewater technologies to be installed in various locations in India.
To date, dedicated joint teams, including at least one partner from Indian and one partner from Europe, progressed on the development of the 14 prototypes, including detailed engineering design, collection of needed authorizations, tenders and purchase, initialization of import of equipment to India and civil work. PAVITR perceives good public acceptance and support from Indian authorities. The later start of the project in India, the budget reduction for Indian partners and the COVID-19 pandemic especially the spread of the delta variant affected the project schedule by intermittently impeding construction work on prototype sites. Nevertheless, PAVITR was able to develop a solid contingency plan relying on a strict system of remote meetings to follow up monthly on the execution of activities and the development and progress of the prototypes.
To date, PAVITR achieved following milestones:
1. Successful Installation Program Plan (i.e. SIP acquisition of materials, containers ready for shipping, administrative documents for export, strategy for arrival and transport within India)
2. Design, adaptation, and development plan of PAVITR systems
3. Research and enhancement strategy
4. International workshops and trainings
5. Management module plan
And significantly progressed towards achievement of following milestones:
6. Scenarios of constructions and technical evaluation
7. Adaptation and installation of PAVITR technology
8. Life Cycle Assessment
9. Process optimisation and decisions based on LCA
PAVITR proposes evaluating technologies to scale up further and implement with the help of stakeholders and local authorities the resource-oriented and decentralized sanitation systems on a local scale. PAVITR could impact the local and regional scale by developing a decision support methodology based on geo-referential studies to develop more accurate water management plans in India.
(i) Provision of safe and long-term operating sanitation systems minimizing risks for people and the environment. Utilizing products produced from the sanitation chain shall increase the incentive to operate and maintain the systems, thus providing long-term benefits to society, health, and the environment.
(ii) Promotion of resource-oriented sanitation systems enabling the use of safe products from the sanitation chain. The support of entrepreneurs will facilitate sustainable agriculture and food security, protection of the environment, and economic growth, mainly on a local scale.
PAVITR systems are designed to impact directly circa 47.000 PE with the operation of our systems. Nevertheless, our approach consists of expertise exchange of prototype size technologies and processes, aiming that India can up-scale the technologies in the future to achieve a more substantial impact. PAVITR focuses on the adaptation of our technologies to achieve affordable water sanitation by the validation of cost-effective technologies and the enhancement of advanced technologies for water reuse.
EU - India Cooperation - Research and Innovation to Validate and Develop Water Technologies.
Water Treatment - Scope for resource energy recovery, reuse, recycle and rain water harvesting.
Drink Water Technology - Iron Removal from Groundwater
EU - India Cooperation- Water Technology and Management