Sustainable Water Solutions: Context, Challenges & The Piramal Sarvajal Model

1. Water Scarcity, Usage, and Quality (Context)

Key Definitions:

• Water Shortage: Lack of water to meet daily needs (even if saline water is available).
• Water Scarcity: Inadequate freshwater sources to meet demand.
• Water Stress: Demand is met, but sources are depleting (<1700 m³/person/year).
  • India: ~1400 m³/person/year → water-stressed.

Global Freshwater Availability:

• 71% of Earth is water, but:
  • 97.5% is saline
  • 2.5% is freshwater → <1% is accessible

Water Usage in India:

Sector	Usage	Key Insights
Agriculture	91%	Rice, sugarcane, wheat, cotton use 90% of irrigation water
Household	5%	Urban: 135 LPCD; Rural: 55 LPCD (Jal Jeevan Mission)
Industry	2–4%	Power generation and AI have high water footprints

Water Quality & Contamination:

Type	Examples	Impact & Treatment
Pathogenic	Cholera, Typhoid	Fast-acting; easier to treat
Geogenic	Arsenic, Fluoride	Slow, long-term; hard to treat

Regulatory Bodies:

• Central & State Pollution Control Boards
• Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission
• NABL-accredited labs for testing

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2. Piramal Sarvajal: A Decentralized Water Solution

Background:

• Mission: "Water for all" – reduce waterborne diseases via affordable, safe drinking water.
• Origin: Started in Shekhawati, Rajasthan (fluoride-affected area).
• Problem: 50% of doctor visits due to waterborne diseases.

Rejected Solutions:

• Piped water → high infrastructure cost
• Packaged water → plastic waste, unaffordable
• Domestic purifiers → high cost, wasteful, no service support
• Water tankers → high cost, carbon footprint

Adopted Model: Decentralized Community-Level Purification

Key Features:

• Product-as-a-Service: Pay-per-use (like Ola/Netflix)
• Local Entrepreneurs: Franchisee-based operation
• Remote Monitoring: Machine health, water quality, volume tracking
• Tech-Agnostic: adaptable to local contamination (fluoride, arsenic, bacteria)

Economic Model:

• Price: 25–30 paise/liter
• Revenue share: 10 paise/liter to Sarvajal; reduced if franchisee owns machine
• Breakeven: ~125 households daily
• Target: Villages with 1000+ households (5000+ people)

Challenges & Innovations:

• Consumer Awareness: Rural India unfamiliar with paying for water
• Seasonal Demand: Higher in summer, lower in winter
• Quality Assurance: Brand trust via remote monitoring and service support
• Incentive Alignment: Franchisee profit linked to volume & quality

Impact:

• Reduced water wastage (8:1 efficiency vs. household RO)
• Created local entrepreneurship
• Improved health outcomes in served communities

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Exam Tip

Focus on differentiating water scarcity terms and understanding the Piramal Sarvajal model’s innovation: decentralized, tech-agnostic, franchisee-based, pay-per-use. Link it to sustainability, affordability, and scalability. Use data points (e.g., 91% agri usage, 55 LPCD rural supply) to support answers. Highlight how the model aligns incentives and uses remote monitoring for quality assurance.