Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) have developed a low-cost water treatment system that removes fluoride and iron from groundwater and can treat 1,000 litres of water at a nominal cost of ₹20.

An IITG statement said the system requires minimal supervision; has a projected lifespan of 15 years with electrode replacement scheduled every six months and can treat up to 20,000 litres of contaminated water in a day, offering a low-cost solution for areas with poor access to safe drinking water.

The findings of this research have been published in the prestigious ACS ES&T Water journal in a paper co-authored by Prof. Mihir Kumar Purkait, along with post-doctoral research associates, Dr. Anweshan, Dr. Piyal Mondal and research scholar Mukesh Bharti from the department of chemical engineering, IIT Guwahati.

Consumption of water with excess fluoride presence can lead to skeletal-fluorosis, a serious health condition in which bones harden and joints become stiff making physical movement difficult and painful. In India, states like Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Gujarat, among others, face high levels of fluoride in groundwater.