Swajal Pvt Ltd based in Gurugram was founded in 2014 by Advait Kumar, an ex-banker from JP Morgan and a Penn State University graduate with a specialization in Electrical Engineering, along with Dr Vibha Tripathi from IIT Kanpur.
Swajal combines Internet of Things technology with solar energy to develop clean drinking water solutions in the form of Water ATMS. These solar-powered water purifiers can produce 1 litre of water at only 64 paisa.
The IoT framework used by Swajal’s Water ATMs was built by the firm’s R&D team from the ground up.
“IoT-based monitoring on the cloud platform allows us to remotely manage, update, and repair each system. Our IoT framework can automatically analyse problems and take the relevant actions if any machine faces an issue. The IoT technology has made us capable of measuring the impact even across remote areas in real-time,” says Advait Kumar.
In a rural Water ATM by Swajal, solar energy is used to pump water from rivers, wells, ponds or groundwater – depending on the location. The water is then treated with UV light and ozone generator. The systems can also desalinise water. The cost of one machine is recovered within three to five years.
The solar-run systems installed in villages also conserve water in a way that rejected water is stored in a tank and the villagers use it for cleaning, washing, irrigation and other uses. This helps prevent water wastage and promotes its optimal use.
Swajal Water ATMs are now located at stores, railway stations, cities, metro stations, hospitals, schools and more. The firm currently operates in New Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with four regional offices in Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Raipur. New centres are coming up in Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Telangana and Karnataka.