Guwahati: Around 1.3 million people from 1344 villages of 24 districts in Assam have been affected by floods this monsoon season, and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is on the ground working with the state government and NGOs to scale up the support to the affected families.
“Clean and safe drinking water is the basic need of the hour, as flood waters have submerged homes and villages in Cachar district, one of the worst impacted in the state. To ensure safe access to drinking water to vulnerable populations, UNICEF Assam along with DDMA Cachar and partner Oxfam India have installed four filtration units – two units are deployed in Katigorah Revenue Circle, one in Silchar town and the fourth in Sonai Revenue Circle. The units can produce 700 to 1000 litres of water per hour. Each unit can cater to 100-150 households (4,500-6,750 people) living within 500 meters of the unit, for basic needs such as cooking and hygiene,” a UNICEF statement stated.
It added: “We are working closely with DDMA and PHED in planning, coordination and site identification. The running costs such as fuel, boat etc have been borne by DDMA, while our partner, Oxfam India is operating the system.”
Dr Madhulika Jonathan, the chief of field office, UNICEF Assam, said “It was on 9 June 2022 that the first AquaPlus 700 Filtration unit was installed in Rajeshwarpur 2 village and a group of six women were trained on installation, functioning and maintenance of the unit. A committee on water, sanitation and hygiene was created to promote safe water and hygiene behaviours in the village.”
The AquaPlus 700 CL Water Treatment System draws water from any available source and the water passes through a pre-filtration candle that can filter micro-organisms and particles upto 5-micron in size.
The water then passes through another ultra-membrane filter candle which is of 0.23-micron in size. This water treatment system uses online chlorination to treat the water, ensuring it is safe for consumption.
The system can be operated either manually or by using a Honda pump.
This system can take on raw water with a turbidity level of 100 NTU and produce 700 to 1,000 litres of water per hour, depending on the turbidity level of the water.
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