<div align="justify">The acute water shortage prevalent across the country in summer has a direct impact on women, who almost break their backs carrying water across long distances. An innovative water carrier, however, is now poised to alleviate the stress while also allowing them to bring home more water for their family’s adequate use. <div align="justify"><br />Dubbed “Water Wheel”, the new container can be rolled all the way to the source and back. While women carrying water may not bring more than 22 litres, Water Wheel can be loaded with 45 litres, sufficient for a day’s requirement for a household. “They have to walk six to seven miles for water,” said Tej Mayekar, product manager for furniture brand Nilkamal, that teamed up with Wello, a social venture, to produce Water Wheel. <br /><br />Water Wheel was an idea of Wello’s founder Cynthia Koenig, whose time at Central America, Southern Africa, South and South East Asia had given her an insight into challenges and opportunities of people at the base of the economic pyramid. She particularly witnessed the way the exercise of ferrying water disproportionately affected women and girls, never allowing them to crawl out of poverty. <br /><br />“We prototyped, iterated, watched, listened, learned and measured until we were sure we created a product that truly added value to the consumers,” Mayekar said. “We know we got it right because when consumers try the Water Wheel, they always end up buying it,” he added.<br /><br />While Rs 2,500 for a Water Wheel may be a worthy investment, Mayekar says the cost could be brought down to Rs 1,900 if people order 1000 pieces for the entire community. “We want this to be more a social responsibility activity (sic),” he told DH. Already, several communities in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have begun using the Water Wheel, thanks to corporate companies who buy Water Wheels and donate them to the villagers. <br /></div></div>
<div align="justify">The acute water shortage prevalent across the country in summer has a direct impact on women, who almost break their backs carrying water across long distances. An innovative water carrier, however, is now poised to alleviate the stress while also allowing them to bring home more water for their family’s adequate use. <div align="justify"><br />Dubbed “Water Wheel”, the new container can be rolled all the way to the source and back. While women carrying water may not bring more than 22 litres, Water Wheel can be loaded with 45 litres, sufficient for a day’s requirement for a household. “They have to walk six to seven miles for water,” said Tej Mayekar, product manager for furniture brand Nilkamal, that teamed up with Wello, a social venture, to produce Water Wheel. <br /><br />Water Wheel was an idea of Wello’s founder Cynthia Koenig, whose time at Central America, Southern Africa, South and South East Asia had given her an insight into challenges and opportunities of people at the base of the economic pyramid. She particularly witnessed the way the exercise of ferrying water disproportionately affected women and girls, never allowing them to crawl out of poverty. <br /><br />“We prototyped, iterated, watched, listened, learned and measured until we were sure we created a product that truly added value to the consumers,” Mayekar said. “We know we got it right because when consumers try the Water Wheel, they always end up buying it,” he added.<br /><br />While Rs 2,500 for a Water Wheel may be a worthy investment, Mayekar says the cost could be brought down to Rs 1,900 if people order 1000 pieces for the entire community. “We want this to be more a social responsibility activity (sic),” he told DH. Already, several communities in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have begun using the Water Wheel, thanks to corporate companies who buy Water Wheels and donate them to the villagers. <br /></div></div>
