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Rural Communities

Most of India's 700 million rural population in more than 150,000 villages suffer from

• severe water scarcity
• waterborne diseases caused by microbiological contamination
• excessive levels of fluoride, nitrates, iron and arsenic water which cause severe health disorders

Fluoride affects > 25 million in 11 states
Arsenic > 30 million in West Bengal
Iron > several million in N. Eastern States, Orissa, W. Bengal, Bihar & M. P
Nitrate > several million in 11 states

The rural market therefore presents a huge business opportunity as well as an opportunity to demonstrate social responsibility. Technology for safe drinking water and water conservation will provide a better quality of life to millions.

Total Solutions
Through extensive R&D and field trials we have developed appropriate technologies to meet rural needs in terms of:

• cost - affordability
  
• sturdiness of equipment
  
• ease of operation
  
• low maintenance
  

Solutions include:

• turbidity removal
  
• disinfection
  
• hard and brackish water treatment
  
• fluoride, iron, arsenic and nitrate removal
  
• sullage and sewage recycle systems
  
• test kits for easy & quick monitoring of water potability at site
  

Supply of technology is backed by local operator training & technical services such as O&M.

Allied services include:

• promotion of rain water harvesting & watershed development
  
• consultancy & marketing support for organic farming through our agri-business subsidiary Ion Exchange Enviro Farms Limited.
  

• On-line dosing coagulant system
• Lamella Clarifier for surface water with high flow rate and high turbidity

Disinfection: On-line dosing system doses pre-set quanitites of sodium hypo-chlorite solution into treated water ensuring no microbial growth occurs even when it is stored.

INDION Jalshudhi - Low-cost drinking water purification
INDION Jalshudhi is a simple, convenient and ready-to-use product which purifies water to give 100% bacteria-free water and even eliminates E-coli. The residual purifying effect lasts several hours. Moreover, it is able to settle suspended impurities and is therefore ideal for purifying muddy, turbid water. The Product has been successfully tested by Government approved laboratories.

Easily affordable by low income sectors, a 5 mg sachet can purify 20 liters of contaminated water with respect to bacteria and turbidity.

Specially developed for simi-urban and rural areas of developing countries, INDION Jalshudi is also ideal for use during natural calamities such as floods, cyclones and earthquakes when water supplies get polluted with suspended solids, dirt and pathogenic bacteria as well as with faecal contamination. The use of INDION Jalshudi during such disasters can help prevent the outbreak of waterborne diseases and epidemics. It is also ideal for use by the De fence and police forces during wartime action/exercises in remote areas.

Brackish Water Treatment (50 - 60,000 l/h)
Total dissolved solids less than 1000 ppm WHO limit

• Pre-treated water passes through semi-permeable membranes at high pressure reducing total dissolved solids
• Consistent quality treated water
• Skid-mounted, compact, easy to operate system
• Effective service backup.

Fluoride Removal Systems (500 - 5000 l/h). Also available as handpump and power pump attachments.
Fluoride reduced to less than 1.5 ppm WHO limit

• Fluorides are adsorbed on the resin
• Continuous supply of treated water
• Compact and economical system; less chemicals and no electricity
• Only alum needed for regeneration
• Sturdy, easy to operate, maintenance free

INDION Domestic Defluoridation Unit - Point-of-Use Unit Incorporates 3-stage process for filtration & fluoride removal. The high surface area & larger pore size of the media provides better diffusion. The media can be regenerated several times & is re-useable The stainless steel unit is corrosion resistant & easy to handle;does not require electricity to operate The size of the unit is designed based on UNICEF guidelines.

Nitrate Removal Systems (500 - 5000 l/h) Nitrates reduced to less than 45 ppm WHO limit
Nitrates are adsorbed on the resin Continuous supply of treated water Compact and economical system requiring less chemicals and no electricity. Only sodium chloride is needed for regeneration Sturdy, easy to operate, maintenance free

Softeners (1000 - 14,000 l/h)
Hardness less than 200 ppm WHO standard

• Hardness causing calcium and magnesium salts are adsorbed on the resin making the water soft
• Sturdy, compact, fibre re-inforced plastic units
• Easy to operate, maintenance free
• Economical system.
• Only sodium chloride (common salt) is required for regeneration

Water Potability Testing
	INDION Easytest kits Simple, quick, easy to use, economical test kits. Titration based tests. The colour changes of the test reagents indicate quantitative presence of various dissolved minerals in water. Can be used to test pH, hardness, free chlorine, nitrate, iron, fluoride. Each test is available as individual outfit also.

INDION MB-WP Easytest kit for microbial faecal contamination

• Simple, inexpensive test
• Can be used in house or at site of water source
• Comprises single bottle containing test media into which water sample is put
• Results available in 12 - 24 hours, as contaminated water turns from yellow to black

Sullage/Sewage Recycle
A variation of root zone technology, the INDION reed bed system treats and recycles sullage and sewage. Combining physicochemical and biological processes into a single operation, the reed bed forms a complete treatment unit which also reduces energy use and the load on the central sewerage system.

Consists of a treatment tank filled with proprietary reed bed support and filtering material and planted with wetland plants. Waste water flows through the medium and around the roots of acclimatised plants and gets treated for organic and suspended impurities by the combined action of plants, micro-organisms and fungi.

It can then be disinfected for use for toilet flushing, gardening and irrigation or to recharge ground water.

• No electricity required for aeration
• No moving parts hence low maintenance & replacement costs
• Treated water fit for irrigation
• No foul odour

Picturesque gardenlike appearance

Services
Operator Training; Operation & Maintenance

• Through its all-India service network the About Us undertakes installationand a year's contract for maintenance.
• During this time, local operators are trained in plant maintenance. The operators are reimbursed by the village community from the money charged for the treated water.
• In case these local operators experience any problems they can always get in touch with the About Us's service personnel. Apart from the smooth operation of the plant, this results in building local expertise.

Contract Farming
Ion Exchange Enviro Farms is an agri-business subsidiary of Ion Exchange India,which undertakes organic horticulture. It has three business units: Produce Marketing, Contract Farming & Enviro Farms.

• Currently it has contract farming arrangements with several farmer & tribal Community Grower Groups (CGGs), covering a total acreage of around 1800 acres.
• Farmers are trained in-house in scientific organic farm management & certification, and their produce is marketed by Ion Exchange Enviro Farms in the international & domestic market
• Contract farming helps farmers to cultivate in their land more productively and profitably, and to obtain better market prices for the produce

Installations
We've successfully demonstrated the soundness & appropriateness of our technologies while establishing a presence and building up credibility.

• We've supplied treatment plants for iron, fluoride, arsenic and nitrate removal for potable water in conjunction with NGOs.
• Gained recognition from municipalities and public health departments

Arsenic Removal in West Bengal: Supply of 150 arsenic removal units for the West Bengal Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), 100 units for the Barassat Division and 50 for Malda Division. Treatment of Surface Water for Drinking: Drinking drinking water treatment plant using lamella clarifiers for PHED Tripura, at Pecharthat, near Agartala.

Freedom from Fluorosis
Supply of 67 INDION Fluoride Removal Handpump Attachments to Zilla Parishad of Yavatmal, Maharashtra.

Iron Removal PHED Chattisgarh has placed orders for 10 iron removal units. Also orders for 1 unit each of fluoride fluoride removal and arsenic removal.

Nitrate Removal
NGO CASP, funded by Care India Plus, has placed an order for two nitrate removal units for a community project at Govindpuri, New Delhi.

Reed Bed Gains Ground
Reed bed system for Ruraki village in Punjab to treat domestic waste water.

Rainwater Harvesting Rainwater harvesting consultancy project for SHARE, an NGO supported by UTV Ltd., for village Vihule Kond, near Mangaon in Raigad district, Maharashtra.
	Case study: This typical Western Ghat village receives torrential rain during the monsoons, but water sources dry up in summer and the 1100 villagers (250 households) face severe water scarcity. The technical input and training were given by Ion Exchange India, funding from UTV Ltd.,
awareness building & monitoring by SHARE, facilitation by NGO Jalshakti, labour & land by the village community. Two rain water harvesting ponds were dug, two bunds built across a stream, regular watershed structures like trenches and gully plugs constructed and a total storage capacity of 2000 cu. m developed. While the project will continue for couple of years, the village will start harvesting the benefit during the current monsoons.

Assistance in Organic Farming
Ion Exchange Enviro Farms is providing assistance in organic agriculture to a watershed development project being undertaken by 20 tribal villages in collaboration with NGO Vacchan and facilitation from Partners in Change. The project is in the catchment area of the Vaitarna dam, between Igatpuri and Shahapur, in Maharashtra. Ion Exchange Enviro Farms has provided saplings and training in organic cultivation techniques to the tribals for a 120 acre pineapple plantation and will also assist in marketing the produce.

It has also undertaken a contract farming project at Kolhi Hills (tribal area) in Tamil Nadu, for organic pineapple cultivation, with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai.

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