Bengaluru-based startup aces water challenge with AI-powered solution

Bengaluru-based startup SmartTerra has been adjudged the winner of the Ashirvad Water Challenge (AWC), the organisers of the challenge said on Wednesday.

AWC, constituted by The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation and Ashirvad by Aliaxis, recognises scalable and impactful technology-driven solutions to India’s water crisis. The challenge is aimed at innovation to widen the access to clean drinking water. Chennai-based Solinas Integrity is the runner-up.

The competition, which began in February 2022, was held in partnership with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.

SmartTerra’s AI-powered data analytics platform helps water utilities find leaky pipes and suspect/faulty water meters to reduce water loss.

Launched in 2020 by Gokul Krishna (co-founder, CEO), Giridharan Sengaiah (co-founder, COO), and Navaneethan Santhanam (co-founder, chief scientist), SmartTerra has developed the platform to monitor leakage, bursts, low pressure and other issues in urban water networks and suspect meters.

During AWC’s pilot phase, the platform identified 11 invisible leaks and exhibited 77% accuracy in localising the losses, an official statement said.

Solinas Integrity was founded in 2018 by Divanshu Kumar (founder and CEO), Bhavesh Narayani (co-founder and director), and Moinak Banerjee (co-founder).

Endobot, a robotic solution from the startup, detects leaks and contamination in pipelines. The pilot phase saw it identify over 40 contamination points and helped save 6,00,000 litres of water per day.

The two solutions are already operational in multiple cities. The winner and the runner-up, chosen from over 140 applicants, were awarded Rs 1 crore and Rs 75 lakh, respectively, at an event at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, on Monday.

The winners were selected by a jury comprising experts on the basis of the solution’s impact, economic feasibility, sustainability, scalability and ability to address water purification, storage, distribution, recycling, and accessibility, the statement said.