Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods

In times of crisis, access to safe and clean water is critical for disaster response teams and affected communities. Water is essential for survival, particularly in the aftermath of disasters like floods. Ensuring sufficient quantities of potable water is a critical challenge in emergencies. This a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rahul Kumar, Anil Kumar Dikshit
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEREK Press 2025-06-01
Series:Environmental Science and Sustainable Development
Subjects:
Online Access:https://press.ierek.com/index.php/ESSD/article/view/1167
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849424702863310848
author Rahul Kumar
Anil Kumar Dikshit
author_facet Rahul Kumar
Anil Kumar Dikshit
author_sort Rahul Kumar
collection DOAJ
description In times of crisis, access to safe and clean water is critical for disaster response teams and affected communities. Water is essential for survival, particularly in the aftermath of disasters like floods. Ensuring sufficient quantities of potable water is a critical challenge in emergencies. This article explores on-site water treatment technologies, emphasising their role in enhancing emergency response. Point-of-use household-level techniques such as straining, sedimentation, filtration, boiling, and chlorine disinfection may be effective and sufficient for a family. However, portable or on-site water purification systems offer a more versatile alternative to cater to larger communities, as they can be customised with various treatment processes to address specific contaminants, making them suitable for camp or community-level responses. Additionally, emerging trends like advanced filtration and scalable on-site treatment units offer improved efficiency during crises. A laboratory prototype of an on-site water treatment system was demonstrated, showing the ability to meet emergency water quality standards. The prototype produced water with pH levels between 6.5 and 8.5, turbidity below 5 NTU, and residual chlorine up to 0.5 mg/L, meeting Sphere standards for emergency water supply.
format Article
id doaj-art-9cab15ad52ac43ea99d7ca5ad3a99665
institution Kabale University
issn 2357-0849
2357-0857
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher IEREK Press
record_format Article
series Environmental Science and Sustainable Development
spelling doaj-art-9cab15ad52ac43ea99d7ca5ad3a996652025-08-20T03:30:03ZengIEREK PressEnvironmental Science and Sustainable Development2357-08492357-08572025-06-0110210.21625/essd.v10i2.1167Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for FloodsRahul Kumar0Anil Kumar Dikshit1Phd Student, Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India In times of crisis, access to safe and clean water is critical for disaster response teams and affected communities. Water is essential for survival, particularly in the aftermath of disasters like floods. Ensuring sufficient quantities of potable water is a critical challenge in emergencies. This article explores on-site water treatment technologies, emphasising their role in enhancing emergency response. Point-of-use household-level techniques such as straining, sedimentation, filtration, boiling, and chlorine disinfection may be effective and sufficient for a family. However, portable or on-site water purification systems offer a more versatile alternative to cater to larger communities, as they can be customised with various treatment processes to address specific contaminants, making them suitable for camp or community-level responses. Additionally, emerging trends like advanced filtration and scalable on-site treatment units offer improved efficiency during crises. A laboratory prototype of an on-site water treatment system was demonstrated, showing the ability to meet emergency water quality standards. The prototype produced water with pH levels between 6.5 and 8.5, turbidity below 5 NTU, and residual chlorine up to 0.5 mg/L, meeting Sphere standards for emergency water supply. https://press.ierek.com/index.php/ESSD/article/view/1167Disaster response Point-of-use techniquesOn-site water purification Water qualitySphere standard
spellingShingle Rahul Kumar
Anil Kumar Dikshit
Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods
Environmental Science and Sustainable Development
Disaster response
Point-of-use techniques
On-site water purification
Water quality
Sphere standard
title Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods
title_full Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods
title_fullStr Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods
title_full_unstemmed Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods
title_short Strengthening Emergency Response: Exploring On-site Water Treatment Technologies for Floods
title_sort strengthening emergency response exploring on site water treatment technologies for floods
topic Disaster response
Point-of-use techniques
On-site water purification
Water quality
Sphere standard
url https://press.ierek.com/index.php/ESSD/article/view/1167
work_keys_str_mv AT rahulkumar strengtheningemergencyresponseexploringonsitewatertreatmenttechnologiesforfloods
AT anilkumardikshit strengtheningemergencyresponseexploringonsitewatertreatmenttechnologiesforfloods