AI-driven Start-up to provide clean drinking water at an affordable price

• Union Minister of Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh launched & presided over the signing of MoU of Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven Start-Up by IIT alumni for water purification through innovative technology.
• The Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven Start-Up innovation by IIT alumni is being supported by Technology Development Board (TDB), Department of Science & Technology.
• The company is focused on innovative technologies to make reliable clean drinking water accessible to communities at an affordable price.

Clairvoyant: Clean Water at Affordable Price

• Named ‘Clairvoyant’, the Start-up uses artificial intelligence to optimise purification systems and predict future breakdowns thus allowing it to remotely manage, update, and repair each system in real-time.
• They have also developed clean drinking water solutions in the form of Water ATMs, which combines Internet of Things technology with solar energy to provide clean drinking water.
• These rural Water ATMs by Swajal proposed to use solar energy to pump water from rivers, wells, ponds or groundwater depending upon the location.
• The water will then be treated with appropriate technology to make it healthy & pure for drinking.
• With this innovation, the cost of purified water is to be brought down to as low as 25 paise per litre.
• The project will empower communities to plan & monitor their drinking water needs with community ownership and will get affordable, accessible, reliable, and clean drinking water 24×7 throughout all 365 days of the year.

Technology Development Board (TDB)

• Government of India constituted the Technology Development Board (TDB) in September 1996, under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995, as a statutory body, to promote development and commercialization of indigenous technology and adaptation of imported technology for wider application.
• The board consists of 11 Board members.
• The TDB is the first organization of its kind within the government framework with the sole objective of commercializing the fruit of indigenous research.
• The Board plays a pro-active role by encouraging enterprises to take up technology oriented products.
• It provides equity capital or loans to industrial concerns and financial assistance to research and development institutions.