Govt launches AI-driven startup for water purification

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven Start-Up by IIT alumni for water purification through innovative technology. The facility aims to provide clean drinking water at a price much lesser than the market price.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven Startup initiative should also motivate other Startups.

A MoU was also signed between Technology Development Board (TDB), a statutory body of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India and M/s Swajal Water Private Limited, a tech Start Up company founded by ex-IITians based in Gurugram. The company is focused on innovative technologies to make reliable clean drinking water accessible to communities at affordable prices. Their project on IoT enabled point of use Solar Water Purification Unit for slums, villages, and High Utility Areas.

Dr Jitendra Singh welcomed the financial support extended to Swajal by TDB and said that his Ministry is committed to reaching out to potential small and viable startups with skill and talent pool but lacking resources. The Minister asked the CEO & Co Founder of Swajal, Dr VibhaTripathi to scale up this technology to help achieve India’s ambitious target of providing clean drinking water to all by 2024, as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Minister said, apart from the Centre’s initiatives like National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) and Jal Jeevan Mission, Private Sector should come forward in a big way with state of the art tech solutions to cover nearly 14 Crore households where clean drinking water is yet to reach.

Referring to Prime Minister’s 75th Independence Day speech, where he said that in just two years of the Jal Jeevan Mission, more than four and a half crore families have started getting water from taps, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Ministry of Science and Technology is positively contributing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision and Mission of “Har Ghar Nal Se Jal”.

It may be recalled that Dr Jitendra Singh launched state-of-the-art Heli-borne survey technology for groundwater management, developed by CSIR-NGRI Hyderabad with Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekawat from Jodhpur in October, last year. To start with, the States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana are being taken up for this latest heli-borne survey.

The Gurugram based company’s patented system, ‘Clairvoyant’ uses artificial intelligence to optimize purification systems and predict future breakdowns.Thus, allowing it to manage remotely, update, and repair each system in real time. They have also developed clean drinking water solutions in Water ATMS, which combines Internet of Things technology with solar energy to provide clean drinking water. Theserural Water ATM by Swajalproposed to use solar energy to pump water from rivers, wells, ponds or groundwater depending upon the location. The water will then be treated with appropriate technology to make it healthy & pure for drinking. With this innovation, the cost of purified water be brought down to as low as 25 paise per litre.

Dr. Srivari Chandrashekhar, Secretary DST & Chairperson TDB, pointed out that this project combines new emerging technologies-- IOT, Artificial Intelligence combined with renewable solar energy to cater to the need for pure drinking water in villages and remote areas.

“With the financial support from Technology Development Board, a social impact startup-like Swajal could do wonders. We are looking forward to cover more states in India at the earliest,” said Dr VibhaTripathi, CEO & co-founder, Swajal.

Rajesh Kr. Pathak, IP&TAFS, Secretary, TDB, has said that this project will empower communities to plan & monitor their drinking water needs with community ownership and will get affordable, accessible, reliable, and clean drinking water 24x7 throughout all 365 days of the year. TDB is committed to support such innovative technologies for mass utility.