Water is an important and critical resource, yet 785 million people in the world lack access to it. With the growing population which is likely to be 1.66 Billion by 2050 in India water supply is going to be a major challenge. Accordingly to the Composite Water Management Index report published by NITI Aayog in 2018 almost 75% of the people do not have drinking water at the premise and almost 84 % of the rural population do not have access to piped water. Most of our water is contaminated and India currently ranks 120 among 122 countries in water quality index. In the face of climate change these current challenges and rising need for water is going to increase manifolds, hence it is imperative that we look for alternative and innovative solutions for water management.

This year’s Global Sankalp Summit 2019 organized a dedicated session on Innovations in Water Management to create a platform for social innovators to present ideas around water resource management. The innovations ranged from technologies developed to purified water to monitoring the existing resource using AIs. The Session led by Marcella D’Souza, Director, WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies facilitated discussions with organizations like Teerthaa, Folia Water and Fluid robotics to showcase innovative approaches towards water management.

Teerthaa: Showcased an alternate solution for water generation from moisture in the atmospheric air through a product named Aeronero. They have three models named Drizzle, Drizzle light and Thunder each with different storage capacity and water output using the same technology for water generation. In order to cater to geographies with low humidity, they have developed a product called Aquairus which produces 20 litres of water per day. With the help of an experienced team, Teerthaa has so far done around 1000 plus installations across nine cities in India and have provided services to homes, offices, Industries, Army, Railways, Residential Apartments, Schools and Colleges. Teerthaa aims to reach the masses with their varied range of products and provide them with a sustainable water source which is environment-friendly and can be scaled.

Fluid Robotics: It provides products and services that enable better management of water and wastewater infrastructure through the use of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. The company is currently helping cities monitor the water and waste water infrastructure by using robots. . They have designed three robotic equipment named FLUID ROV –X, FLUID FLO-S and FLUID UWV-T to study the pipeline infrastructure and identify the data (on leakage, breakage etc.) on the go, which is then further analysed to fix the issue. Fluid Robotics is currently working with various Urban Local bodies in the country to help them strengthen the wastewater pipeline structure like in Powai lake, Mumbai (Maharastra)

Asim Bhalerao from Fluid Robotics

Folia Water: It focuses on providing a simple and affordable solution for safe drinking water for masses. Folia Water has developed an antimicrobial water filter paper based on nanotechnology that is cheap and affordable. Each Folia water paper cost 20 cents and filters ~ 20 litres of water. The technology has been tested in various parts of the world which include Ghana, Bangladesh, Honduras and South Africa. Folia Water aims to sell large volumes of folia filter paper through international consumer goods distributors.

Md Rashed from Folia Water

These organizations with promising ideas if encouraged can help create affordable and high impact solutions on managing the water resources and reducing water pollution.

This note is a compiled report of the Session on Innovations in Water Management held at 11th Global Sankalp Summit 2019, Mumbai, India.