Meet the water warriors

Geetu Vaid 

Access to clean water is a dream turning into reality. Harbingers of change are social entrepreneurs and their innovation — water ATMs. These vending machines, installed at several public places, are quenching the thirst of people across classes

Thirty eight-year-old Saraswati from Hisar might not have gone to school after Class V, but she is completely clued in about the dangers of drinking  fluoride-rich water and why her family needs to drink purified water.  “For families like mine, access to mineral water or water purifiers was a distant dream. I  hardly associated frequent ailments of my family members with water contamination,” says the mother of three. But all this changed when a water-vending machine was stationed in her colony a year ago. “The quality of this water is better than what we would collect from the colony’s community tap. Also, it is not expensive like the bottled mineral water,” she adds. 

It is not just Saraswati, lakhs of others like her in urban as well as rural belts in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, etc. have similar stories to share as the footprint of water-vending machines is increasing rapidly all across the country. These vending machines have an in-built reverse osmosis (RO) or similar purification mechanism, which treats the ground water accessed from local or municipal bodies, and supplies fixed quantities to people at a nominal cost ranging between Rs 2 and Rs 5 per litre. The users can pay in cash to the attendant of the kiosk or  pay at the mobile machine or also use RFID-enabled cards to purchase water, much like withdrawing money from an ATM.  

Driven by GSM and IoT, these machines can be monitored remotely. The cloud-based system not only provides dispensing data, but also information on the purity level of water  and the condition of pipes, etc. The kiosks are equipped to accept payments in BHIM, UPI and e-wallets, too.   

However, more than the machines and technology, it is the zeal of the men and women behind these ‘water companies’ that is commendable. Start-ups like Swajal, Janajal, Piramal Sarvajal, Pi Lo, Water Health International (WHIN) and Waterlife are some of the key names in this domain. 

Vibha Tripathi with her start-up Swajal is among the front runners and pioneers in mission clean water. Vibha, a PhD and an electrical engineer, gave up her cushy job as a teacher in IIT-Delhi in 2008, to find practical application for her passion for research. Her work on solar energy steered her into finding a solution for water woes being faced by people in rural areas. A Rs 1 crore grant in 2013 by Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) paved the way for designing machines and making Swajal a reality with the help of her son Advait Kumar as a co-founder. Currently, they have more than 400 machines installed across 15 states, catering to half-a-million people daily. She plans to add another 400 by the end of this year. 

For 47-year-old Parag Agarwal, the huge gap between the demand for clean water and supply was the trigger. “My experience in water management for over 10 years made me realise that not much was being done to provide an affordable option to people when it came to clean drinking water”. Thus, in 2013 he and his brother, bootstrapped to launch Janajal after rigorous market study and R&D. Based on the AAA philosophy of making safe water available, accessible and affordable, the first vending machine was set up at a ghat in Varanasi in 2015. Today, the company has over 450 machines, majorly in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi-NCR. It also has tie-ups with IRCTC and NDMC for setting up kiosks at railway stations and other public places. Janajal secured an investment of $5 million in February 2017, from US-based social impact fund Tricolor Cleantech Capital. The start-up generated a revenue of Rs 2.5 crore in 2017-2018, which is projected to touch Rs 15 crore mark in the current FY on the back of rapid expansion of its ATM network. “With 300 ATMs to be installed in Delhi and Ghaziabad alone by the year-end, we aim to supply 1 billion litres of clean water by 2020,” says Parag.    

At present, the focus is on urban areas, as the economic viability of these ventures hinges on the number of users. However,   Sarvajal, a venture of Piramal Foundation, the CSR arm of Piramal Group, is catering to over 1,800 villages across the country. Hyderabad-based WaterHealth India, is another  venture in this domain that is expanding its footprint in southern states. This subsidiary of US-based WaterHealth International has more than 450 water ATMs, including those in rural areas in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, etc. Pi-lo, a Delhi-based firm, has kiosks at metro stations and various archaeological sites in Delhi. The firm claims to have over 400 water ATMs installed across the country. 

These social enterprises are not only providing solutions to an existing civic problem and contributing to environment protection, but are also generating jobs. On an average, each of the ATMs is manned by two or three operators. “At Janajal, the focus is on training and up-skilling youth to work as operators,” adds Parag, who currently has over 800 persons employed at Janajal.  

With an expanding user-base across states and government backing the initiative, too, these  warriors have a clear advantage in the war for clean water.

Will the woes end?

• As many as 1.4 lakh children succumb to diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
• More than 76 million Indians do not have access to clean drinking water.
• Just 896 out of 1,000 urban households and 858 rural households have access to sufficient drinking water. 

Plastic pullback

Approximately 15-20 crore plastic bottles are used each day across the country. This is a Rs 16,500 crore market, which is growing at an average of 22 per cent annually. 

Water ATMs provide a perfect platform to cut the use of plastic bottles, says Parag Agarwal of Janajal. “With 100 ATMs in Mumbai’s suburban railway stations, over 2.5 lakh bottles are not being used each day”, he adds. 

Policy push

• Haryana launched its water ATM policy in April this year to ensure supply of clean drinking water to people. 
• Under this policy, there will be a water ATM at a distance of 400 metres for the convenience of people. 
• ATMs will be fitted at bus-stands, railway stations, parks, bus stops, parking areas and markets, etc. 
• Municipal or civic body would install the water ATMs and ensure smooth operation.