Digital Paani: On a mission to reuse wastewater to ensure water security for India

Hyderabad: A sewage treatment plant at a commercial complex in Delhi-NCR was around 14-years-old and dysfunctional. Its filters were choked and the pumps were broken. However, Digital Paani, an Indian water management solution start-up, turned it around and the sewage treatment plant is now as good as new.

"We plugged in sensors, detected the problems, and provided expertise. With the help of our software and modules, anyone with basic knowledge can maintain a sewage treatment plant. We transform plants from non-functional to compliant units that treat sewage to high water quality standards," says Mansi Jain, the founder and CEO of Digital Paani. Mansi points out that untreated dirty water plays a huge role in polluting lakes and other water bodies. The expertise is provided by Co-founder Rajesh Jain, Mansi's father.

Clean water is a basic necessity and everyone is working on treating and using freshwaters. However, fresh water and groundwater resources are running out. Digital Paani is on a mission to catalyse wastewater's potential to meet water needs. In the next five years, it intends to prevent 195 million litres of sewage from entering water bodies daily.

"Treating and reusing wastewater can meet 65% of urban water needs. However, most of the sewage treatment plants go defunct within a few years of their installation," says Mansi.

Digital Paani offers an integrated software platform and automated hardware tools that enable the proper functioning of sewage treatment plants and their improvements. "The primary reason why the sewage treatment plants stop working is because of lack of expertise. Not only do we provide the necessary expertise but we streamline operations through comprehensive task management and automation, bringing down operating costs over time," Maansi explains.

She adds, "We plug in approximately 15 sensors in key parts of the plant, including proprietary innovations to detect problems. Along with the software, long-lasting automation to control equipment and key processes based on real-time data is also provided. Using the software, we also provide a management module that automatically manages the whole operations process on a daily basis."

A variety of modules are provided to guide users when any maintenance is required like when the filters need to be cleaned, the kinds of chemicals to be added, and more.

"An analytics module to diagnose problems and provide live dashboard and reports gives our customers full visibility," Mansi says.Digital Paani is all set to work with 25 sewage treatment plants across India.

Digital Paani is one of the many companies that will participate in INK@WASH 3.0 (Innovations & New Knowledge in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) which is going to be held in Hyderabad in May 2022. INK@WASH is a unique platform instituted by the Telangana municipal administration and urban development (MAUD) department in partnership with the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) for collaboration between start-ups/innovators, mentors, academic institutions, non-profits, funders, and state/city governments.

NewsMeter is the formal media partner for INK@WASH 3.0. This article has been written by NewsMeter in association with the Administration Staff College of India (ASCI).