Water4India: KWR introduces new sampling and analysis methods in India

From 5 to 15 March three KWR analysts were in India to contribute to the EU’s Water4India project, which aims at improving the water provision in rural India. Two of the analysts took samples at a pilot water treatment plant of the firm AMIAD. They applied the Hemoflow method, which permits the concentration of large-volume samples for purposes of chemical or microbial analysis. Together with traditional sand filtration, the pilot plant provides water to the village of Thirthahalli, located in the interior of the country, six hours by road from the city of Bangalore. This is the first application of the Hemoflow method in India.

The concentrated water samples were sent to KWR’s third analyst, who was located about 800 km to the north, at the Bhavan-lab in Mumbai. Working with the lab’s staff, she analysed the samples for the presence of the pathogens Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Clostridium. This was a big challenge since the Indian lab’s equipment and materials were limited, but the result was successful.

Thanks to the collaboration with KWR, the Indian lab is now in a position to conduct these analyses independently. Further supplementary analyses were carried out at KWR back in the Netherlands. Visit also the
Water4India website.