The Information Technology University Lahore and University of Colorado Boulder are going to work together to create Water ATMs – Water Dispensing and Quality Measurement Units in Pakistan.
Due to the lack of regular monitoring of various filtration mechanisms, the water quality is below acceptable levels at many plants. At the same time, Pakistan is an extremely water starved country, with water levels falling below 1000 cubic meters per capita in the recent past.
Access to clean drinking water is an even greater challenge, with 16 million people in Pakistan having no choice but to drink unhygienic water, resulting in death of 41,000 children per year due to diarrhea, substandard water and sanitation facilities.
The Water ATM Project:
This new project aims to create a Water ATM – an electronic water dispensing device with quality measurement unit.The Water ATM will be comprised of probes that measure pH, turbidity, residual chlorine, and total dissolved solids.
Furthermore, the water quality and dispensing quantity will be measured throughout the day and the data will be recorded via telemetry on the web-based dashboard.
In this way, any water wastage or filtration plant maintenance issues can be promptly highlighted and timely addressed.
Dr Tauseef Tauqeer of ITU and Mustafa Naseem of UCB are jointly awarded a competitive research grant of $374,599 by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the US and by the Higher Education Commission in Pakistan.
It is worth noting that various Water ATM projects like this are already successful in certain parts of India and Africa, where access to clean drinking water is scarce.
