HYDERABAD: A group of final year mechanical engineering students from Swarna Bharathi Institute of Science and Technology (SBIT), Khammam came up with an innovative system of cleaning water in lakes and tanks.
The students conceived a project called ‘Solar Fountain for Pond Aeration’ and claimed that it can clean water in lakes by creating a flow in still water with the help of fountains. Another special feature of this project is it works entirely on renewable energy. This system is equipped with a solar panel of 100 watt capacity on the top and a 0.5 hp capacity of motor to run the fountain. The system can be installed on a wooden frame in any lake, Lalit Kumar, one of the students, said.
Prof Ranga Rao, a faculty at SBIT, explained that this cost-effective project was the first of its kind in India. He said, this project was also appreciated by irrigation minister T Harish Rao.
Though the students prepared the project as part of their academic curriculum, the minister asked the college management to upgrade it into a full-fledged system for using it in ‘Mission Kakatiya’ programme.
While inaugurating the project here Thursday, Harish Rao directed irrigation department officials to identify small lakes and ponds in the city where this system can be used. Meanwhile the GHMC is also planning to clean the lakes under its limits. CN Raghu Prasad, zonal commissioner, east zone, GHMC said, around 50 lakes in all the 18 circles have been identified for restoring. “We are also planning to use this fountain project in lakes in Hyderabad,” he said.