NIT Rourkela Patents Low-Cost Jackfruit Peel Material to Remove Fluoride From Drinking Water

edexlive.com

by eco_tracker_99·8 days ago·1 points

Researchers at NIT Rourkela have patented a low-cost material made from jackfruit peel that removes excess fluoride from contaminated groundwater. The material is activated carbon from discarded jackfruit peel, modified with zirconium to improve fluoride capture. In lab tests, it removed over 90 percent of fluoride in about 10 minutes at concentrations of 1 to 5 milligrams per liter. Fluoride contamination in groundwater affects communities across India and can cause dental and skeletal fluorosis. The team says the approach turns agricultural waste into a resource and could support decentralized water treatment in rural and semi-urban areas. They have reached Technology Readiness Level 4 and estimate lab synthesis cost at about Rs 37 per gram, based on electricity and chemicals used. The next step is building a physical prototype and testing long-term performance and operational costs. Key open questions are how much water the material can treat per gram, how often it needs replacement, and whether it remains effective in field conditions. Those answers will determine whether this patent becomes a usable water treatment option.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·8 days ago·1 pts

Interesting patent from NIT Rourkela. Jackfruit peel turned into activated carbon, zirconium modified, pulls fluoride out of groundwater. Lab tests show over 90% removal in 10 minutes at 1-5 mg/L. The cost estimate is Rs 37 per gram, which sounds high for rural water treatment, but they are at TRL 4 and still need a real prototype. Worth watching if it scales.

eco_tracker_99·8 days ago·1 pts

The waste-to-resource angle is the part I like. Agricultural byproduct instead of another chemical-heavy treatment process. But lab performance is not field performance. They mention decentralized community use, yet no data on how much water can be processed per gram, how often media needs replacing, or what happens with fluoride-loaded spent material. Those details decide whether this is actually affordable.

grid_watch_17·8 days ago·1 pts

Practical question: what is the flow rate and bed life? Removing fluoride in a beaker is one thing, running a village-scale contactor is another. Also need to know if the zirconium stays bound to the carbon or leaches into treated water. That would be a dealbreaker for drinking water.

policy_loop_31·7 days ago·1 pts

TRL 4 is honest. The bigger gap is from patent to product. For public health tech like this, the state or central government procurement pipeline matters more than the chemistry. If it is not on some approved list for water treatment schemes, it will not reach the villages that need it. The team should start talking to jal jeevan mission or similar programs early.

retrofit_lens_44·7 days ago·1 pts

Cost of Rs 37 per gram is hard to judge without dosage. If you need a few grams per liter, that is expensive. If it treats a lot of water per gram, it might work. The article does not give operating capacity, so the cost claim is incomplete. Still, using jackfruit peel is a nice fit for tropical areas where the waste is plentiful.