Bengaluru: Design conclave targets water crisis with deep impact grants

Bengaluru: The second edition of the Design Impact Awards Conclave was held on Wednesday.

A social initiative by Titan Company, Design Impact focuses on the transformative power of design to solve real-world problems, encouraging new generation innovators to apply their skills towards challenges of Indian society and sustainability. This year, the initiative focused on addressing the global water crisis.

This edition, six startups — CultYvate, SmartTerra Urban Water Management, Solinas Integrity, EF Polymer, EcoSTP Technologies, and Transwater Systems — were selected and supported with grants of Rs 50 lakh each to implement solutions over the past year.

Of these, the conclave highlighted the ground impact of three startups advancing to the 'Deep Impact' phase, awarded with a pool grant of Rs 3 crore. The three winners announced were CultYvate, SmartTerra Urban Water Management, and Solinas Integrity.

Over the past year, the six grantees piloted scalable solutions across agriculture, urban water management, wastewater recycling, and pipeline inspection.

Transwater Systems' Boson White Water System was used to decentralise wastewater treatment, piloting it at the BWSSB sewage treatment plant in Kadubeesanahalli.

Another grantee, which piloted its project in Bengaluru, is EcoSTP Technologies, focusing on net-zero sewage treatment technology.

The conclave brought together a diverse set of stakeholders from the government, industry, philanthropy, and the social innovation ecosystem.

The event was attended by Ajoy Chawla, Managing Director, Titan Company; Srinivasulu, IFS, Principal Secretary, Forest, Environment & Ecology Department, Government of Karnataka, among others.