Enumeration of Microplastics in Water Supply Systems and Development of Removal Technologies

Enumeration of microplastics in water supply system and development of microplastics' removal technologies

Objective

• To conduct a quantitative and qualitative assessment of microplastics present in the water from lake reservoirs and the water supplied from water treatment plants of Chennai, India., To identify the various factors controlling the removal of microplastics in different stages of drinking water treatment plants., To develop technology for microplastic removal using physicochemical processes and biomaterial aided coagulation techniques.

Description

• To meet objective 1: On-site bulk sampling (100 L) will be carried out at each treatment step of the treatment plant. Set of stainless-steel sieves (1.10, 100, 1000, 2000 and 5000 ? m) will be used for on-site sample filtration. Followed by this, each sieve will be washed with high-pressure (battery driven) water pump and the wash water will be stored in 1 L amber borosilicate glass bottles.

Impact

• Quantitative estimation of microplastics in terms of the number of microplastic particles present per volume of water. Besides, qualitative characteristics such as the size, shape, colour and polymer type of the microplastics would be explored., Based on the concentration and behavior of microplastics present in the treated water, treatment technology would be developed with optimized working conditions., Apart from this, the linkage between macro and microplastics would be established. This would result in the identification of the specific type of plastic waste that are widely found in the environment due to its mismanagement., Outcome 3 would ultimately help in the development of microplastic pollution control framework/action plan.