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In India, Where Clean Water is Good as Gold, ATMs Dispense Drinking Supplies
Green Technology Featured Articles
September 04, 2013

In India, Where Clean Water is Good as Gold, ATMs Dispense Drinking Supplies

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

In rural Churu, in Rajasthan, India, villagers have begun withdrawing “liquid assets” from a solar-powered ATM-type network. For a single Indian rupee (the equivalent of a penny), they can buy 10 liters (10.5 quarts) of purified water that is guaranteed to be safe to drink—unlike the local water, which has been contaminated by sewage.


The program being conducted by a not-for-profit  organization called Sarvajal (“water for all” in Sanskrit), which is building a network of micro-franchises nationwide in India to get a high-quality, low-cost solution to people living in urban slums and rural villages who have been marginalized by the lack of better infrastructure support.

Typically in these underserved areas, bottled water and other private solutions may be available—but are beyond the economic means of the residents because they are often quite costly. Sarvajal’s micro-franchise water filtration and distribution services solution has brought the price of private drinking water down radically. 

Saravajal was founded in 2008 by the Ajay G. Piramal Foundation—a private philanthropy that is searching for solutions to India's most pressing challenges—with the mission of developing market-based models for clean drinking water “at the base of the pyramid.”

Since then, more than 200 million liters (44 million gallons) of clean drinking water have served 75,000 regular customers in six states, creating 400-plus jobs that encourage clean water in communities. 


Villagers in India use water dispensed at ATM (courtesy Sarvajal).

“The water quality is good. Earlier we drank borewell water [from an open groundwater well], which was hard and contaminated. This is way better. For my family of five, we easily need 20 liters [21 quarts] a day for drinking and cooking," Jeyamma, a laborer, told local NDTV. She inserts two one-rupee coins at one of the water kiosks in the area, and the massive utensil she is carrying are filled with water in minutes.

Sarvajal already has 35 of its water ATMs installed in urban areas in India, and the plan is to launch another 50 in the coming months across slum redevelopment communities in Delhi. Equipment is tailored for each franchise, based on the community and number of households served. Some franchises operate out of a store with a larger filtration unit, while others manage solar powered ATM-like water dispensers. Customers get 24-7 access to clean water and pay using either coins or prepaid cards, which they can recharge just like mobile phone minutesThe ATMs are owned and managed by local franchisee entrepreneurs and the devices have some 25 sensors, which manage and monitor water pressure and filtration, and make maintenance and repair of the systems low cost and easy.

Sarvajal states, “[We make] it easy: we provide training, filtration equipment, payment solutions, phone-based customer service, marketing materials and sustained service and maintenance for each franchisee that is part of the Sarvajal family. Sarvajal also connects franchisees to bank financing through partnerships with lending institutions. With more than 150 franchisees profitably delivering water to communities across India, Sarvajal is a leading franchise provider ‘at the last mile.’”




Edited by Alisen Downey


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