Tech to convert sea water into potable water developed

Team L&M

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has developed an indigenous technology for conversion of sea water to potable water.

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has developed Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology for conversion of sea water to potable water which has been successfully demonstrated in Lakshadweep islands.

Three desalination plants based on the LTTD technology have been developed and demonstrated at Kavaratti, Agati and Minicoy Islands of Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The capacity of each of these LTTD plants is one lakh litre of potable water per day.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has now entrusted the work of establishing six more LTTD plants at Amini, Androth, Chetlet, Kadmat, Kalpeni and Kiltan, each with a capacity of 1.5 lakh litres/day. These will come at a total cost of Rs187.75 cr. The cost of desalination plant depends on a number of factors like technology used and location of plant.

The LTTD technology is found suitable for Lakshadweep islands since it has the required temperature difference of about 15⁰C between sea surface water and deep-sea water.