The Water Warrior

[Music]

good evening

my name is drinking water switch

not out of rain water not out of even

thin air

or even the ocean for that matter which

a lot of people are trying to do right

now

um i’m sure there are a lot of people

here who have pretty much turned up

their horses by now or maybe you could

have said like oh my god wow she’s doing

that

um i’m gonna go over the first one i’m

not sure

uh but let me tell you this that the

current um

scenario of how the earth is currently

retaliating uh you know with

all the ice cap melting and the floods

and the storms and one would really

think

uh practically so you know it should

increase the groundwater level but

actually that’s not

what’s happening all that water is

actually going

into your drains or it is going into

some sort of an empty space where it is

getting mixed up with like you know

bleached um gluten written soil

and thereby making it unfit to use so

all that water that is coming

excessively even though it’s a big

catastrophe

um is actually going nowhere so um

excessive rains floods and a really bad

sewer system

is such a heavy cocktail um you know

that and i learned this a very very hard

way uh because you know my family

was getting sick i had kids and i

couldn’t understand where we were

getting

all these mysterious skin diseases from

having tummy aches having uh you know

unexplained

um weird situations even though we were

like not

really eating out or whatever and this

heady cocktail is what we were actually

consuming which i got to know later

because uh it was being consumed either

while bathing or cooking

or uh you know irrespective of having an

arrow at home it didn’t really matter

the smell from the showers was really

foul

um you know and um and right outside my

home there was like excessive build-up

of

sweet water because in the area that i

live in apparently every monsoon the

sewage line and that of the municipal

land used to kind of overlap

by coming to our pipelines and of course

if i want to keep up the immunity of my

family

um i have to keep cleaning it i had to

keep keep

you know kind of um updating the

membranes on my ro system as well

um and this was just really getting

crazy so um

so this was getting you know the

beginning of a very expensive affair and

this was happening here on end and

you know the governing bodies the party

bodies were really couldn’t do much

about

it and um so the best way we thought

is you know sewage is is getting you

know bad

press um such as getting bad press so um

what we thought is let’s

make the villain a hero so because it

had a lot of character

uh and it was available plenty and it

would never end or dissipate or ever

getting stick

so then we have humans on the earth

people like us which is never

going to be a problem uh maybe sewage is

90

liquid and 10 percent so this is like a

perfect blend

um and it’s a gold for me

we worked on it for a year and a half

and after various experiments and tests

uh we were ready with it and we achieved

almost all that we had set up

a switch being converted into drinking

water

uh and more and nothing less than ws

standard water because otherwise it

would really not be fruitful enough

or bia standards for that matter as far

as indian drinking water is concerned

and of course we had to have the best

for this baby um so then we came to the

point that okay phase one is done now so

now what next

how do we prove it to the world how do

we prove it that this can be used for

masses

because a lot of innovations on an

average are either good on paper or they

couldn’t laugh

when it gets on to mass trials it mostly

fails

so we managed to set up a spot in one of

the plants in cash report which is an

already running sewage treatment plant

and we asked them to give us a hundred

thousand liters of sewage to show them

some magic

and um and we told them that we’re gonna

set it up for free we’re not gonna ask

you to pay for it because we wanted

a space to kind of where we can showcase

this technology and some place where we

would have a lot of visitors

so they agreed and it worked it would be

and

more importantly they also agreed

because it would be a feather in their

cap

where they’re kind of getting you know

adopting new technologies

and of course for us that would be our

first mover advantage so it was a

win-win situation

so we erected we installed we

commissioned a hundred thousand liter

plant

where it was being treated so it was

completed 400 000 liters

and we converted back in 85 000 liters

of drinking water

um and uh without and this is all

without the use of chemicals purely

organic

right so that’s when we got the

wow uh we saw the potential we saw the

market

we saw the future and didn’t even we

didn’t need a crystal ball and

astrologer tell us that this works

so that is when my story as a green

entrepreneur started

and or more what i call myself or i

would like to call myself

a water warrior uh success was

swift in terms of awareness levels

but somehow as one would expect that

people would be lining up and

you know i have

but um it is quite the opposite sadly in

the beginning

um but there is a positive i’m coming

back uh i was getting uh it was very

challenging it was very disheartening

and it almost

didn’t seem like this was all worthy of

um you know

worth it and uh knowing that i had a

proven solution knowing that it meant

all the parameters and i had no one

coming and asking for it for

a quick launch where mr arun kejriwal

had drank the water and so did everybody

else and he’s okay

um so it didn’t matter for them it was

more like how

are you expecting us to drink water

which comes out of sewage

so after several attempts of trying to

convince some potential

clients we will also ask several

questions about

can this water be used for anything else

other than consumption

uh human consumption so that’s when

you know all the factors of river

rejuvenation

ground water rejuvenation toilet

flushing agriculture horny culture

um you know everything basically 70 of

water could be substituted which is not

for non-human consumption

um if anybody does eventually want to

use it for that

uh then you know that comes to the next

phase so we were like yes of course it

can because that’s

what we call a first level of filtration

and

um and we were one day told by a

government official very

candidly and very poorly and saying that

um that would take you a lifetime

to convince 1.3 billion people in this

country to drink water coming out of

their toilets

so either you come up with this good

strategy or a different strategy or

please stop wasting people’s time um

so that’s when everything changed the

focus changed the marketing tools

changed the business strategy

changed my own thinking changed and um

basically came to the point that you

know okay fine you don’t want to drink

it don’t drink it

and then substitute it for everything

else which is from

maintenance to washing to laundry to

um the toilet flushing through hobby

culture for you know

cities and for agriculture as well um

and

for construction uh construction that

they are also and

construction and agriculture spaces

which basically

do uh consume a lot of water literatures

are in in grows

the amount of money uh that would be

safe you could go on vacation three

times

upgrade your vehicle um and uh because

that’s how much you would save it’s

almost at 80

90 percent saving uh and the main

mission is that groundwater

does not get extracted it is zero

groundwater extraction

and uh thereby keeping the levels up

more importantly

is treating sewage at source rather than

the current way of where it goes through

your pipelines and it basically gets

eventually gets dumped into the resource

so

for all practical purposes it was a

financial and emotional

and uh environmental win uh

it worked and uh basically you could see

that everybody could see the advantages

of having the system

and almost immediately be a

government-based institute be

residential and um you know that’s when

everything started really uh becoming

better

so now that i’ve talked about that story

um this quickly i will come to the

science part of it

it is basically this technology imitates

nature at its best

it’s like when spring water which is

coming down from the hills

um you know goes through this whole

journey of gravel and stone and various

little bits and bobs

of what it goes by it gives usually

cleared sparkling drinking water

it’s a very similar concept um and

uh basically nature by far is what i

understand is the best teacher it is the

best balancer

and if there’s any great honor to

acknowledge nature is to copy it

and the water that comes out of it is we

have three levels of filtration

so the first level is basically the what

we call a bio filter

um and that water is really good enough

for groundwater rejuvenation uh

for um water any any you know water body

rejuvenation for agriculture

then we have a second level of

filtration where we bang in oxygen um

uh again through a natural method where

the water is good enough for

seventy percent of your usage which is

non-human consumption

and when we come to the human

consumption part again which we have a

membrane so that’s the advanced

filtration system

and this membrane gives you water which

is a great for

cooking bathing and for

drinking as well what makes it better

the biggest effect on this that anyone

can take is that it

is um it is a water recovery plant from

switch

that is done water coming up without the

use of chemicals without the use of

arrows

um thereby the conversion is 100

and for drinking water is 85 and um

there is minimal electricity because

everything is based and designed for

gravity

so you save money there that’s part one

of the roi by the way

there is no sludge which is created so

you don’t have any such management

whatsoever you don’t have to worry about

that

um it is the minimal operation and

maintenance cost in the entire country

as far as food treatment plants are

concerned we are the cheapest

um only by the fact that we the water

the treated water comes out at almost

eight i say

a litter compared to the two two and a

half

three rupees a liter from other uh

there is no order you can literally walk

through my plant and not smell

basically smell almost nothing um there

is no noise because there are no pumps

there are no motors there are only two

submersible pumps

um and of course high return investment

which i was talking about

and the biggest factor of reject

management uh we tried talking about

earlier

uh is it comes out to be in the form of

really high quality

a liquid form of uh non-chemical gluria

which is amazing um for it’s a high

grade fertilizer

even when we uh you know replenish uh

everything uh the media is um also

really hydrate fertilizer

so it also works for agriculture so

every little

part of this plant is financially viable

you get a return on investment you

actually literally start making money

the minute commission plan for you

um and very very importantly you don’t

need

any skilled labor you don’t need an

educated person to run this it is so

simple to run

that unskilled labor uh also can run it

for you we we normally give two to three

months of training uh once we install

the plant we also give

uh the pollution controlled both

certificates where the water is tested

after the treated water comes out

so that the client whoever is installing

this has pure and enough

trust to know that whatever we’re giving

we’re giving is pure

and it’s um not overrated uh so these

distinct advantages of course make it uh

completely sustainable

it makes it green and uh the major chunk

of the seawater emissions um

is uh look after there is there is no

other

stp that does that right now so it also

helps in creating a positive

and social responsibility among all who

have

adopted this technology uh they like the

idea that of taking sewage in a green

and organic manner without any research

now what does it do for the country

because i believe obviously this has to

have some massive goal of formatting in

the

in the you know for the country is that

basically

today in everybody’s mind we’re trying

to figure out okay 2030 is coming up

we’re going to be up by 416 million

people

and where is this water gonna come from

currently 21 major cities

have run the groundwater on which they

are completely dependent on

is dry we have all heard stories of

chennai and bangalore

um you know and that’s really it’s nuts

um

and almost about i would say um eighty

percent of the water that comes out of

domestic sewage is

going untreated again getting into

rivers and everyone

is going there so um to top it all there

is

um there is no real proof of water

disparity like people talk about it

between rural and urban

yet there is a fair chunk of the

population that today does not have

access to safety in drinking water

and um they either have to travel really

long distances to get even like

10 liters worth of a small bucket worth

of 10 liters for a family of four

and um even that water is not for

standards it’s not really great water

but it’s okay for them and they make do

but that make do is what converts into

um

diseases it converts into tb it converts

into cancer

um it conserves severe diarrhea skin

just just

you know skin disfigurement and they

have to go right back to it because

there is no other source of clean water

so um

so that increases medical expenses for

them and it gets really

you know it becomes very difficult for

them to live

so um even though we are considered to

be a developing nation

if our population and our citizens

cannot

um you know get their fair share of

clean air water in food

and they will we will soon be using our

biggest resource and that is our people

that is our citizens our population and

um

so with the all stack against that and

um the population and that of the

environment

this technology kind of negates all

those problems

you know everything from uh you know

treating sewage which is the biggest

problem right now we’re treating that

we’re giving you something green we’re

giving you something sustainable and

giving you something that is so

important

to live um and that is clean safe water

um so basically those are the usps you

know the advantage of the takeaways from

uh most of this and the only reason i

can claim this today

is that we have completed 14

installations since 2015.

sorry from 2016

about six to eight million liters of

sewage every day

which is thereby giving about eight

million people almost really good eight

lakh people

good clean safe water um so currently

that water is being treated for all

purposes and

um even for consumption for that matter

and even for food industries

uh where drinking water level is given

so that they come out with zero effort

uh what we call zero effluent plants

uh this in itself reduces almost 60

percent

of the fresh water usage uh thereby

resulting in decreased financial costs

as well uh

this may seem like a really small number

uh compared to the 1.3 billion

uh but i said but as i believe that you

know a small drop

can really create a big portion and

that’s the goal

and that’s the goal where i come from

and um i i for me it is that

the efforts are towards making sure that

every household

has a cap flowing with fresh water clean

water

and uh and saving all our natural

resources um by reviving them

and giving back their life and flow

which are

predominantly our rivers which are our

main source of water

and uh we thank nature day um and we

give it back three four

um so you know so from the way in terms

of

uh governments or in terms of citizens

uh my call to action

is definitely that we’re targeting smart

city project spirit marketing government

schemes water saving activities uh

residential societies

um hospitals commercial hubs where what

wherever water is needed basically

and uh we see cooperation also from

citizens

um mostly like people like you uh people

like

from huntsville um you know where we can

also help to get the government

draft uh policies which comprises greens

and gene decentralized wastewater

systems other than having one

plant where you know they may be serving

a large population but in fact

something gets screwed up in that plant

and that nothing

you get so um

this is not just applicable in india it

is applicable anywhere in the world

uh any country wherever there is

polluted water grey brackish chemical

effluent polluted water you know this

technology can definitely treat it

um i truly truly believe in the young

generation of today

even after speak after hearing um speak

my own two kids um were a part of this

generation and

um even though somewhere i may be

wanting to leave a legacy but i would

really like to start

um for that now rather than forget to

wait till i’m gone

uh to partner with me um and to you know

kind of take on the onus

uh for the future generation that is yet

to come uh to get there to

basically create a community um

where we’re able to give every citizen

their right to be in safe water

and um i also believe a ripple effect

of um making one simple choice

uh can create a big wave of change um

so i’m really hoping that we can all be

our own water warriors and start really

looking after the water that we’re

consuming