The IEEE Kerala Section SIGHT initiated the innovative project D2Re-B (Domestic and Drinking Reservoir with Renewable Energy) with the objective of resolving the inadequacy of safe drinking water and efficient street lighting in the tribal village of Meenkolli, Bavelli. The online training session for the D2Re-B project commenced with a session on Electrical Wiring, followed by sessions on plumbing and fitting, control systems, and photovoltaic systems. The Team D2Re-B had a total of 30 volunteers with 25 student volunteers including core team members and 5 professionals.
With the site visit, the team realized that the river Kabini was the only source of water for the residents in that area. But the water was not clean enough to drink. This problem was successfully solved by installing a solar powered water pumping system with an indigenously built water purifier in the colony.
For the same the team installed two tanks of 2000L and 500L for the water storage. The 2000L tank was used to store water directly drawn from the river and purified water was stored in 500 Litre tank. For pumping of water the team installed a 550W DC submersible pump which will be powered with a ground mounted 800W solar panel system for live water pumping in day time. An automatic control system is designed to cut off the pump after the tank is filled. The remaining energy from the solar panel was stored in a battery and used to run four 24W street lights. According to WHO a minimum of 15 Litres per person per day should be provided as soon as possible, though in the immediate post-impact period, it may be necessary to limit treated water to a minimum of 7.5 Litres per day per person. Laundry/ bathing might require higher amounts.
Primary beneficiaries of D2Re-B are 20 families with an estimate of 80 members in total. So a person can consume 50 Litres per day from the installed system which will be enough for meeting their daily needs.
Through D2Re-B the committee members got pre-training about Solar system design and installation using PVsyst, water pump application, and sessions on Sustainable Development Goals, and electrical and plumbing which actually helped them to acquire knowledge about the baseline of the project. Training on design and implementation of water purifiers was also conducted in collaboration with IRTC (Integrated Rural Technology Centre) at Palakkad.
Set of unique identifiers of this project that makes D2Re-B exceptional:
1. D2Re-x: The IEEE Kerala Section SIGHT will support any IEEE entity wishing to collaborate with the Group for the implementation of D2Re-x, where ‘x’ is the place identified as a beneficiary by the entity. The project will be open to any IEEE organization across Kerala, and technical support will be provided by the IEEE Kerala Section SIGHT.
2. Operation Board: A metal engraved board will be installed at the project site containing the information about the ON and OFF of the system and basic troubleshooting methods along with emergency contacts in the mother tongue of the residents.
3. Feedback Stories: The Team collected the stories of participant’s experience of each day of the project which is useful for impact assessment and measuring the success of the project in terms of the inclusion of engineering students.
4. No Plastic Environment: The project was done in an eco-friendly manner avoiding the use of plastics. The ID Cards were designed by avoiding plastic covering and the tags were of threads. The students were asked to carry steel plates and glasses for having food so that no disposable waste generates.
5. Absolute Energy Utilization: When the water pump is not in operation, the solar energy generated has to be conserved and utilized instead of wasting the excess energy. Thus a Street lighting system is designed and installed, which is powered by the excess stored energy.
6. Indigenously Built Water Purifiers in association with IRTC: The students of the team were trained in the design and implementation of water purifiers originally designed by IRTC (Integrated Rural Technology Centre) in Palakkad.
7. Floating Water Pump: During the fluctuations of water levels in the river (and during floods), to ensure the water pump is moving proportional to the rise in water level, a pump was tied onto a floating mechanism as seen in solar floaters and submerged in water.
8. Indigenously Built Control System for Layman use: The control system was designed in such a way that any local resident can operate the system easily and has multiple working options.
