Researchers at NIT Rourkela have developed a water purification material from discarded jackfruit peels. The team made activated carbon from the peels, modified it with zirconium, and removed more than 90 percent of fluoride from contaminated water in about 10 minutes under laboratory conditions. A patent has been filed for the technology, which is currently at Technology Readiness Level 4. The estimated synthesis cost is around Rs 37 per gram based on electricity and chemicals used. The researchers see potential for decentralized water treatment in rural and semi-urban areas where groundwater fluoride contamination is a problem. However, they still need to build a prototype and test long-term performance, operational costs, and practical durability before the material can be deployed. The project also fits a waste-to-resource approach by turning an agricultural byproduct into a useful product. Conventional options like reverse osmosis can waste water and remove beneficial minerals, while activated alumina and ion exchange have their own chemical and operational limits. If the material holds up in field testing, it could become a low-cost option for fluoride-affected communities.
