A Bengaluru-based start-up has come out with an innovative water purifier which helps in providing clean, safe and healthy drinking water facility to its customers across the country.
By Manas Ranjan Hota, Vijender Reddy Muthyala – Co-founders & CEO, DrinkPrime
A 2018 Niti Ayog report claims that 70% of India’s water sources are polluted and contain water that is unfit for human consumption. India also ranks 120 out of 122 countries in the water quality index. Atop this, less than 50% of the Indian population has access to safe drinking water. How many of you actually monitor water quality on a daily basis? Our water sources are under extreme stress due to multiple environmental changes taking place across the globe triggered due to increased pollution from human negligence.
The current water systems and infrastructures do not provide any solution to these growing modern challenges. For example, in Delhi, the worsening air quality has resulted in high demand for air purifiers. Similarly, as the demand for the finite source, water, rises, the need for dynamic solutions to make systems efficient also rises.
Innovations and technologies are constantly transforming industries and the water sector is the latest to be included in the digital revolution. Water and electronics – a combination that is currently redefining the industry and helping water go digital! The smart/digital water management sector is expected to grow by 160% by 2026.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS DIGITAL WATER?
By definition, digital water is a set of smart systems integrated with sensors that help collect data for better management of water. The data is analysed and used to enable predictive maintenance as opposed to the traditional way of responsive maintenance. Thus helping us to use our water resources in a more efficient and sustainable way. An example of a technology that is reshaping the water industry could be the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in water purifiers.
Despite cities like Mumbai claiming to give their residents potable water right through their taps, the majority of Indian households still do not have access to clean water. With this, people are starting to look at water purifiers as a utility rather than an appliance. It is a necessity.
TRADITIONAL VS IoT-ENABLED, AI WATER PURIFIERS
Just like how the air quality varies across places, water quality varies from area to area. Traditional water purifiers follow a one-size-fits-all approach and are mass marketed to people all over India. These water purifiers do not take into consideration the input water quality of a particular area. Water also has a tendency to change its properties as time passes depending on the season and several other factors. This situation calls for a customised IoT enabled water purifier with filters installed according to the properties of the input water.
BENEFITS OF AN IoT-ENABLED WATER PURIFIER
As opposed to a traditional water purifier, an IoT-enabled water purifier monitors fluctuations in the water quality to ensure clean, safe and healthy drinking water always. IoT sensors help gather real-time data on water quality.
Real-time data monitoring helps keep the changing conditions of water in check. The servers are constantly updated with this information. This enables the provider to schedule proactive maintenance checks with the help of AI. Without IoT, it would be next to impossible to understand the qualities of water or the health of the device until something goes very wrong.
Under-filtered water may be easy to spot as there will be changes in colour, odour or consistency of water. However, a lot of people fail to understand that over-purified water is just as harmful to health and may go unnoticed.
TDS levels fluctuate more than you think. As per DrinkPrime’s data collected from the beginning of the year 2022 when compared to the data collected towards the end of the year have a huge difference! Water with TDS levels in the 150-300 PPM range has touched 600-1000 PPM in areas like Electronic City and HSR. These levels are way beyond the acceptable range. With the help of IoT sensors and AI, DrinkPrime effectively tracks the TDS levels of the water. If it drops below or rises above the standard range, the device is immediately serviced or the filters replaced. Thus, every subscriber is provided with a tailormade experience.
If not for digitisation, this process would have been time consuming and would require additional expenditure for the workforce. Without IoT technology, it would have been next to impossible to provide the efficient and hassle-free services currently offered in the market. Additionally, these smart water purifiers are usually managed through a mobile app. The device is synced with the mobile app via Bluetooth or WiFi, the user can monitor the water purifier’s health themselves. Keeping track of the litres they consumed and easy recharge are a few other benefits of the IoT-enabled water purifier and its mobile app.
THE FUTURE OF SMART WATER PURIFIERS
The water purifier industry is 30+ years old and is yet to completely let go of its outdated technologies. Integration of technologies in this industry improves the performance of water purifiers. It maintains transparency and gives the user optimised control over their water purifiers. Clean water is a basic necessity that should be made available without any hassle. Digitisation of how water is managed is a big step forward in helping the country’s people get access to clean, safe and healthy drinking water.
WHAT IS DRINKPRIME?
A subscription-based service for water purifiers that democratises access to clean, safe and healthy drinking water at an affordable cost. DrinkPrime is a smart customised water purifier based on input water quality. Unlike traditional water purifiers that are not connected to the internet, DrinkPrime is Internet of Things (IoT) -enabled and is in sync with a subscriber’s DrinkPrime mobile app allowing them to monitor water purifier health at all times. A data-driven model, it blends a water purifier subscription service along with sensors to track a household’s water input and consumption in real-time. The customised four-stage filtration process gives access to clean drinking water based on input water quality while being charged based on the chosen subscription plan.
The main objective of DrinkPrime is to increase access to drinking water using technology and a disruptive business model to make owning a water purifier much more reasonable and convenient. The water purifier has with Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors at different points which send data for each purifier. Using the data collected by these sensors and extensive sampling of water quality the team came up with a way of customising each purifier based on input water quality.
DrinkPrime utilises Artificial Intelligence (AI) to proactively schedule maintenance checks for its subscribers. The water purifier is in sync with the mobile app which provide insights on monitoring water purifier health in real-time and tracks water consumption. DrinkPrime combines the convenience of a water purifier and the economics of bottled water into one product.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Manas Ranjan Hota is the co-founder and COO at DrinkPrime. He is responsible for growing DrinkPrime’s subscriber base by 500% over the last 2 years with the current subscriber count exceeding 30,000.
Vijender Reddy Muthyala is the co-founder and CEO of DrinkPrime. He has utilised his expertise in technology and product development to build India’s first smart water purifier available on a subscription basis.
To know more about the authors, kindly write to us at info@thewaterdigest.com
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