Historically, boiling has been the most widely used method of water purification; there is awareness of sand and gravel filtration, and straining. The major motive for water purification was to purify visible impurities, but now there is understanding about the various organic and inorganic contaminants prevalent in water. In other words, a water purifier is meant to remove the most common impurities found in drinking water including bacteria, chlorine, heavy metals (such as mercury, copper, and lead), pesticides and herbicides. There are various household domestic purifiers available in the market today with vast varieties of the technologies. There are as many technologies available starting from very traditional ones such as chlorination and alum to high-end technologies like RO and UV. A huge range of products is available in the market for each technology. The basic problem that we want to address is that, at this moment we do not have any comparative study of these products and hence there is no such basis available while selecting these. There is no overstating the importance of choosing a suitable water purifier and the various safety issues that accompany it.

Also a wide understanding of the available technologies, products and methods is needed to be developed in our group. To begin with the comparative study of these purifiers, we want to establish a water lab at Tata Centre, where we can test these purifiers for performance and reliability. We expect that at the end of the study, we can have quantitative and qualitative performance data for these purifiers which later on can be used as a guideline for selection and deciding the rating of the products. In a country like India, where water scarcity is growing day by day, there are many issues relating to water. This has meant that there are a dozen firms that are trying to make the best of the situation. There are several attempts to conserve water and also to provide water which is safe and pure. This study will be performed keeping in mind urban and most of the rural population. Also, this study will give insight about the existing water filtration market. A database will be created to be used in future for baseline studies. As the basic problem of drinking water is targeted, the concrete data base can be used in educating people as well as the manufacturers.