Session 1A: Special Lecture

Basudeb Datta, Kolkata

Defluoridation of Drinking Water

Defluoridation refers to the removal of excess fluoride from water. Water and food are the main sources of fluoride ingested by people and animals. Excess fluoride intake over a prolonged period leads to a disease called fluorosis that affects many people in India and other countries. During the past eight decades, various methods such as coagulation, adsorption, reverse osmosis, solar distillation, and electrocoagulation have been used for defluoridation, but every method has drawbacks. Following a brief discussion of fluorosis and methods to combat it, some attempts to treat the rejected water from a reverse osmosis unit installed by the government at Yellampalli village will be described. Results related to rainwater harvesting will also be presented.