Delhi Techie Says Floating Wetlands Can Help Purify Water, Curb Pollution
It not only improved the water quality but also helped rejuvenate dying water bodies.
As the Delhi'ites are desperately looking for ways to find out ways to curb pollution in the Capital, Tarun Nanda, an environment engineer, believes building miniature floating wetlands for lakes and ponds to naturally purify them can help a great deal.
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Nanda has been in this field for over six years and has worked on several projects that required constructing wetlands. It not only improved the water quality but also helped rejuvenate dying water bodies.
His latest work is a floating wetland ¡ª plants grown on a mat built from wire mesh, drainage pipes and used water bottles. The plants purify the water by removing algae and absorbing nitrates, phosphates and other heavy metals.
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"The idea is to bring community participation and show others how easy it is to take care of our waterbodies. Different species of plants possess unique properties. The more wetlands you add, the faster the water quality improves. This is particularly useful in small ponds and lakes near housing societies in Delhi where water condition has become terrible," said Nanda.
Nanda has been testing these wetlands in Vasant Vihar for over two months. He said that there has been a major improvement in the quality of water and the next step is to conduct workshops to teach people how to make their own floating innovation. He has already held one workshop at Hauz Khas and plans to host many more in the future.
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The workshops will be planned in different parts of the capital in the coming weeks to teach people how to build 'natural' purifiers. The second one is expected to take place next month. Nanda calls the initiative EvolveEngineering and has created a Facebook page under the same name.
An approximate cost of building a floating wetland will be around Rs 4,000, he said.
"Why use technology when one can use nature to improve your surroundings? By using stones, gravel, rocks and pebbles, one can easily purify water. We are trying to show people its benefits," he said.
