Purified water in India
From 2018 to 2021 dozens of Indian, Dutch and other international students and PhD candidates are working with TU Delft on Water Management and Sanitation in India. This is solving two problems at once. On the one hand, future Indian engineers become aware of the importance of treatment and recycling of polluted water, and on the other, TU Delft scientists learn more about the cultural context in India, enabling them to gain valuable local insight into which technological solutions are effective.
Awareness and direct participation of Indian students in this research is therefore crucial. However, our disposable project money only applies to Dutch researchers. For Indian students, the competition is extremely fierce to get an Indian scholarship to do research abroad. So, it will take years before we have even exchanged a handful of students. With crowdfunding we hope to start their participation as soon as possible.
TU Delft: world-class water management
TU Delft enjoys a global reputation in Water Management and Sanitation. Our reputation is not only built on past success, we continue to innovate with high-tech solutions that are sustainable, effective and affordable in different contexts.
Will you join us?
We need your help to pass on knowledge!
We want as many students and PhD candidates as possible to take part in this initiative. We want to enable Indian students to come to the Netherlands for three months to gain knowledge at TU Delft and for TU Delft students to pass on knowledge and to learn more about the cultural context in India. Our aim is to have an exchange of at least ten students. Will you help us buildthis exchange?
We want to educate more skilled sanitation engineers to address the life-threatening effects of waste water in countries.
In India's megacities, most waste water flows unhindered through outdated open water-drainage systems. These open sewers pose a serious threat to health and the environment. For generations, scientists in India have paid little attention to this problem. Anything to do with human waste was the concern of the lowest caste and had little or no respect. This has left a glaring lack of knowledge in this area. Fortunately this is now being addressed, with universities and the government in India calling in our expertise, not with the intention of solving the problem for them but to pass on knowledge.
For more information about this project, read this article: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ceg/research/stories-of-science/water-treatment-in-india-a-matter-for-the-local-community/
The arrival of the Indian students in Delft is part of a major joint project between India and the Netherlands, in which TU Delft, Wageningen UR, IHE and NIOO-KNAW are involved. The costs are being equally shared between India and the Netherlands. We want to develop a treatment concept that can be used for hundreds of heavily-polluted stormwater channels in Indian cities. The first pilot installation will be built in Delhi to demonstrate that usable water can be produced for local residents and that this concept encourages local enterprise.
Not only is it important that a working treatment plant is realised, also of major significance is technical young talent in India. We will help them learn how to realise structural solutions for polluted water. And this will enable Indians to manage and maintain the treatment plants themselves.
The students and PhD candidates will work together on the design and testing of the water-treatment plant under different conditions.
The Indian megacities are criss-crossed with old drain systems. These drains that channel waste water. They were occasionally created for draining excess rain water during the monsoons. In recent decades however these cities have witnessed explosive expansion in number of homes and factories. However this has turned the system of drains into an open sewer.
Millions of Indians are still dependent on discharge into these drains for sanitation purposes. This project aims to educate Indian engineers and students at TU Delft and help them to build skills in the area of water management and sanitation.
The number of students able to participate in this exchange programme will depend on the total amount of funding raised.
