Filtering water, naturally

The great summertime need is but a glass of chilled water. In one of the homestays in Joida, a town in Uttara Kannada district, the availability of fresh and chilled water is ensured all year round by a water-purifying system that recalls simpler times.

Here, spring water is made fit for drinking by running it through a linear set-up of earthen pots and natural materials that act as filters. The water collected retains the smell of soil — its speciality.

“The water flows from the topmost pot, filled with small stones, through the pots containing sand, charcoal and then fine sand, and reaches the receptacle fixed with a tap,” says its creator, Narasimha Chapakhanda, adding, “In an hour, six to eight litres of water gets collected. And it remains chilled. The maintenance of this filter involves changing of the stones in the topmost pot every two days, and washing of the pots, sand and charcoal for reuse once a week. In a natural way, the stones and sand purify the water inside the pots; and there is the use of charcoal, which is utilised in most modern water filters.” 

The idea for this pot assemblage occurred to him 10 years ago, when he recalled the memory of his grandmother using earthen pots for storing water, and the knowledge of filtering water naturally as mentioned in his school textbooks.

“At the time I made this, it cost me 450 rupees. The expense now could be set at 1,100 rupees. It’s summertime; this is a practice everyone can adopt because there is hardly any expense after setting up the filter, and it’s easy to maintain,” he assures.