NEW DELHI, July 21 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today informed the Rajya Sabha that a new technology has been installed to convert the saline/saltish sea water into drinking water.
The Minister stated that the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Chennai, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has developed a Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology for conversion of sea water to potable water and this has been successfully demonstrated in the Lakshadweep islands.
Pertinent to mention that in the coastal regions as well as towns and villages located along the sea shore, the water is available in plenty but it is not potable and cannot be used for drinking. The reason for this is that sea water is often rich in its content of salt and other minerals. As a result of this, it may not be potable and also not considered appropriate to be used as drinking water, which could also be compatible with good health.
Therefore, there has always been constant research to find means of converting sea water into potable water which could be suitable for drinking, cooking and other personal use.
The Desalination Plant is based on Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology which takes away the salt or saline water and converts it into potable water.
The Minister informed that the Ministry of Earth Sciences ( MoES ) through its autonomous Institute 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 .
Dr Jitendra Singh further elaborated that the capacity of each of these LTTD plants is 1 Lakh litre of potable water per day . Based on the success of these plants , the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA ) through Union Territory ( UT ) Lakshadweep has entrusted the work of establishing 6 more LTTD plants at Amini , Androth , Chetlet , Kadmat , Kalpeni and Kiltan with a capacity of 1.5 lakhs litres / day .
As per the Minister’s reply, the LTTD technology is found suitable for Lakshadweep islands where the required temperature difference of about 15 ° C between sea surface water and deep sea water is found in the vicinity of Lakshadweep coasts only as of now . The cost of desalination plant depends on a number of factors inter alia which includes technology used and location of plant . The total cost of the six LTTD plants in Lakshadweep islands is Rs . 187.75 cr . No , Sir . MOES has not taken any foreign assistance for setting up desalinisation plants in Lakshadweep Islands .
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