A smart bamboo water tower designed to harvest water from the atmosphere could perhaps serve as a model for communities that face challenges in accessing drinkable water.
The Rs 1.5 lakh solution was initiated by the North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) through its project called, “Smart Bamboo Water Tower-With GSM based Water Level Indicator”, which was inaugurated at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram in Sohra on Independence Day.
According to NECTAR, the bamboo tower harvests water from rain, fog, dew etc. It is a passive vertical structure that can be designed using locally available materials and functions by natural phenomena such as evaporation, condensation, and gravity.
Officials said the water collected can be for various purposes. They said that water collected from fog has to be tested whether it is suitable for drinking, which can be done in winters, when monsoon ends.
At present the tower can accommodate 1000 litres of water from rain, which can even go beyond depending on the size of the water tank.
“The 1000 litre tank has been kept for now, so the maximum level indicator has been set till the top height of water tank,” an official said, adding that since the inauguration date, water collected was at 1 per cent, which is about 10 litres as indicated by the GSM.
A GSM based digital continuous water level indicator has been added to the structure, in order to monitor the water level from time to time. The data collected can be used to generate Statistical data, NECTAR said.
